This course teaches hardware hacking and reverse engineering techniques and skills commonly used against hardware products. It is a combination of lecture and hands-on exercises covering the hardware hacking process, proper use of tools and test measurement equipment, circuit board analysis and modification, embedded security, and common hardware attack vectors. The course concludes with a final hardware hacking challenge in which students must apply what they've learned in the course to defeat the security mechanism of a custom circuit board.
A full course outline can be found at http://www.grandideastudio.com/portfolio/hardware-hacking-training/.
The course aims to educate everyone, from beginner hobbyists to computer security consultants to design engineers to senior management. Whether you like to get your hands dirty with hacking hardware or you are just curious about how hackers may reverse engineer your products, this course will be of benefit. No prior electronics experience is required. Expect to leave the course with a smile on your face and a hacked circuit board around your neck.
Students should bring their own laptop running Windows (or equivalent virtual machine) and containing a functional USB interface. The laptop will be used for online research and to control test equipment. Software and drivers may need to be installed.
• Grand Idea Studio’s custom hardware hacking training circuit board (one for each student to keep)
• Electronics and test measurement tools, including a soldering iron, multimeter, digital oscilloscope, and device programmer
• Safety equipment
• All other hardware tools, components, and circuitry necessary for the course
Joe Grand is an electrical engineer and the President of Grand Idea Studio, Inc. He specializes in the invention, design, and licensing of consumer products and modules for electronics hobbyists. Joe is a former member of the legendary hacker collective L0pht Heavy Industries and has testified before the United States Senate Governmental Affairs Committee regarding government and homeland computer security. He has spent nearly two decades finding security flaws in hardware devices and educating engineers on how to increase the security of their designs.
Joe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts and a Doctorate of Science in Technology (Honorary) degree from the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, Arizona.
