Cyber Security and The Flipper Zero

 Some of the first viral videos to include the Flipper Zero were of people driving by Teslas and opening the charging port. Once the Flipper had gained a bit of momentum online, more videos came out, this time unlocking doors on various cars, or even starting the car, all with the push of a few orange buttons. In response to the potential for car theft, Canada banned the sale of the Flipper outright. So, is this fact or more fiction? Well, here's where things get interesting. As usual, it's a bit of both. The videos of people popping open the charging ports of Teslas are, for the most part, completely real. Some videos of doing things like unlocking car doors are also real... sort of. You see, cars have used radio signals to remotely perform operations for some time. Your car's key fob is simply a little radio made to serve only the purpose of making your car easier to use and interact with. When you push the unlock button on your key fob, it sends out a radio signal. Your ...

 Some of the more popular demonstrations of the Flipper Zero's capabilities are of the RFID and NFC functions. Viral videos showed the Flipper instantly bypassing electronic locks on hotel rooms, homes, businesses, and even cars. Others showed it copying and emulating credit card information. These videos earned the Flipper Zero a nation-wide sales ban in Canada as well as a sales ban on Amazon.  But is there any truth to videos? It's a bit complicated. The Flipper comes with built in RFID and NFC readers, writers, and emulators. Using this function, something like a business key card can be scanned, cloned, and emulated. To the lock, there is no difference between the emulated code from the Flipper and the actual key card. It's a neat little function, but without having physical access to a card, there's not much you can do. In most of the door unlocking videos, that's all that's happening -- they've cloned a card and are emulating its signature. I said mos...

In august of 2020, an odd little device was put on the market. It was cute, white and orange, and would be more influential than anyone expected. This unassuming little handheld toy was marketed as a pen-tester's playground. For many of the real tools used by cyber security professionals, the flipper zero came equipped with a downsized (and powered) but fully functional version.  Within a few months, rumors about his device spread like wildfire all over the internet. Videos popped up showing it doing everything from opening charging ports of Teslas to cracking electronic locks with the push of a button. People would change the channels on restaurant televisions, turn their menu screens to news channels, and much more. Its sale was banned on Amazon after rumors arose that it had credit card skimming capabilities and its sale was banned entirely in Canada after videos showed it getting into locked cars.  So, what is this device really? What can it do and what can't it do? Which ...