Joe Grand’s Hardware Hacking Basics + Bonus Day!

$3,299.00

Duration

3 days

Delivery Method

in-person

Level

beginner

Seats Available

20

Duration

3 days

Delivery Method

in-person

Level

beginner

ATTEND IN-PERSON: Onsite in Phuket

DATE: 21-23 August 2023

TIME: 09:00 to 17:00 ICT/GMT+7

Date Day Time Duration
21 Aug Monday 0900-17:00 ICT/GMT+7 8 Hours
22 Aug Tuesday 0900-17:00 ICT/GMT+7 8 Hours
23 Aug Wednesday 0900-17:00 ICT/GMT+7 8 Hours

Interested in hardware hacking, but don’t know where to start? This class, taught by world-renowned engineer and hacker Joe Grand, teaches fundamental hardware hacking concepts and techniques used to reverse engineer and defeat the security of electronic devices. 

This comprehensive training covers product teardown, component identification, circuit board reverse engineering, soldering and desoldering, signal monitoring and analysis, and memory extraction, using a variety of tools including a logic analyzer, multimeter, and device programmer. It concludes with a final challenge where you’ll identify, reverse engineer, and defeat the security mechanism of a custom embedded system. No prior hardware, electronics, or security experience is required.

The bonus day allows for exploring more advanced techniques, including fault injection/glitching, side channel attacks, and hardware espionage. 

Through Joe’s unique teaching style and relevant hands-on exercises, you’ll not only gain the technical skills to explore, manipulate, and exploit electronic devices, but also the understanding of how to apply your skills against other hardware once you leave the classroom.

 

Student will be provided with:
  • Course presentation on USB thumb drive
  • Custom training circuit board
  • Hardware implant (O.MG DemonSeed EDU)

 

Agenda
Day 1:
  • Hardware Hacking Overview
  • Information Gathering
  • Product Teardown
    • Opening housings
      • Product assembly/disassembly methods
      • Anti-tamper mechanisms
      • Hands-on exercise: Defeat epoxy encapsulation
    • Component identification
      • Discrete components
      • Integrated circuits
      • Finding and reading data sheets
      • Hands-on exercise: Identify target components
  • Schematics and PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards)
    • Creating/reading schematics
    • PCB construction/fabrication methods
    • Hands-on exercise: Modify target PCB
  • Soldering and Desoldering
    • Tips/techniques
    • Hands-on exercise: Soldering
    • Hands-on exercise: Desoldering
  • Buses and Interfaces
    • Identifying interfaces
    • Determining pin function
      • Hands-on exercise: Measurements w/ multimeter
      • Hands-on exercise: Create block diagram/schematic

 

Day 2:
  • Buses and Interfaces (continued)
    • Signal monitoring/analysis
      • Tools/techniques
      • Serial communications interfaces (UART, I2C, SPI)
      • Hands-on exercise: Signal monitoring w/ logic analyzer
      • Hands-on exercise: Digital decoding w/ logic analyzer
      • Hands-on exercise: Interactive console via UART
  • Signal/Data Manipulation
    • Tools/techniques/examples
    • Debug interfaces (vendor-specific, JTAG)
  • Memory and Firmware
    • Memory types
    • Hands-on exercise: Extract/modify data from EEPROM
    • Security/code protection bypass examples
    • Firmware analysis tools/techniques
  • Hardware Hacking Challenge
    • Apply the knowledge and skills learned to defeat the security mechanism of a custom electronic device.

 

Day 3: BONUS MATERIAL
  • Side Channel Attacks
    • Hands-on exercise: Discover side channel weakness on a custom circuit board, defeat PIN protection via timing attack
  • Hardware Implants
    • Hands-on exercise: Build a keystroke-injection hardware implant, experiment with various payloads
  • Covert Channels/Data Exfiltration
    • Hands-on exercise: Discover covert channel on a custom circuit board, capture/decode exfiltrated data
  • Fault Injection/Glitching
    • Hands-on exercise: Extract program code from a protected microcontroller via voltage glitch using the ChipWhisperer

Why You Should Take This Course

This comprehensive training covers product teardown, component identification, circuit board reverse engineering, soldering and desoldering, signal monitoring and analysis, and memory extraction, using a variety of tools including a logic analyzer, multimeter, and device programmer. It concludes with a final challenge where you’ll identify, reverse engineer, and defeat the security mechanism of a custom embedded system. No prior hardware, electronics, or security experience is required.

Who Should Attend

This class is for anyone interested in hardware hacking, including security researchers, digital forensic investigators, design engineers, and executive management. Whether you are looking to expand the capabilities of your organization or would like to understand how hackers may be reverse engineering your products, this class is a great starting point.

Key Learning Objectives

  • Understand the hardware hacking process, mindset, and purpose

  • Hands-on experience with useful and relevant techniques

  • Confidence to apply learned skills to electronic systems outside the classroom
  • Prerequisite Knowledge

    No prior hardware, electronics, or security experience is required. Each student will be led through the material and hands-on exercises regardless of past experience. Questions are encouraged along the way!

    Hardware / Software Requirements

    Students will need to bring their own laptops running Windows 7 or greater with administrator access and at least two USB Type A sockets (dongles/converters are generally OK). The laptop will be used to control test equipment and hardware hacking tools. Software and drivers will need to be installed. Everything else required for the class will be provided, including (but not limited to) soldering iron, multimeter, logic analyzer, device programmer, and safety goggles.

    Your Instructor

    Joe Grand (@joegrand), also known as Kingpin, is a computer engineer, hardware hacker, teacher, advisor, daddy, honorary doctor, occasional video maker, member of legendary hacker group L0pht Heavy Industries, proprietor of Grand Idea Studio (grandideastudio.com), and co-founder of offspec.io. He has been creating, exploring, and manipulating electronic systems since the 1980s.