Hands Off Hardware Hacking

Overview

This two-day comprehensive course, from the world renown hardware hacker Joe Grand, teaches fundamental hardware hacking techniques and processes used to reverse engineer and defeat the security of electronic devices.

It combines the lecture portions of Joe Grand's hardware hacking training course, while removing the hands-on elements to provide access to a wider audience.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites.

Target audience

• Security consultants, red teamers & penetration testers who need to evaluate the physical security of client systems and look for exploitable hardware vulnerabilities.
• Design & electrical engineers looking to view their products from an attacker’s perspective, allowing them to proactively build stronger security into their schematics and PCBs.
• Technical & Senior Management overseeing product deployment or corporate risk who need a practical understanding of how hardware flaws impact organizational security.
• Government & law enforcement personnel including digital forensics experts, researchers, and defence contractors who analyse hardware modifications or recover data from compromised devices.

Objectives

• Describe and understand the hardware hacking process, mindset, and purpose
• Understand useful and relevant hardware hacking techniques

Outline

Module 1 – Overview & Introduction

• Hardware hacking objectives and motivations
• Common attack vectors
• Methodology and process

Module 2 – Information Gathering

• Open-source intelligence
• Patents and certifications
• Obtaining and reading data sheets

Module 3 – Product Teardown

• Opening housings
• Anti-tamper mechanisms
• Defeating coatings and encapsulation
• Component identification

Module 4 – Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs)

• PCB construction and fabrication
• Board-level reverse engineering and modification
• Soldering and desoldering

Module 5 – Buses and Interfaces

• Identifying interfaces
• Signal monitoring and analysis
• Signal manipulation and spoofing
• On-chip debug interfaces

Module 6 – Memory and Firmware

• Firmware extraction
• Firmware analysis and modification
• Microcontroller code protection
• Secure boot and trusted execution environments

Module 7 – Advanced Techniques

• Fault injection
• Side channel attacks
• Chip-level reverse engineering and manipulation

Module 8 – Hardware Espionage

• Supply chain risks and threats
• Hardware implants
• Covert channels and data exfiltration
• Product integrity/assurance

Exams and assessment

There is no exam available as part of this course.

Hands-on learning

Intentionally, to increase the scope of audience to the advanced topics of hardware hacking there are no hands-on hacking labs in this course.

Joe Grande will substitute the practical sessions for engaging discussions, and expert demonstrations of the hardware hacking concepts throughout.