Electronics on System Overlord

Announcing TIMEP: Test Interface for Multiple Embedded Protocols

david@systemoverlord.com (David Tomaschik) — Fri, 08 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Today I’m releasing a new open source hardware (OSHW) project – the Test Interface for Multiple Embedded Protocols (TIMEP). It’s based around the FTDI FT2232H chip and logic level shifters to provide breakouts, buffering, and level conversion for a number of common embedded hardware interfaces. At present, this includes:

SPI
I2C
JTAG
SWD
UART

This is a revision 4 board, made using OSHPark’s “After Dark” service – black substrate, clear solder mask, so you can see every trace on the board. (Strangely, copper looks very matte under the solder mask, resulting in more of a tan color than the shiny copper one might expect to see.)

A Cheap and Compact Bench Power Supply

david@systemoverlord.com (David Tomaschik) — Fri, 29 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I wanted a bench power supply for powering small projects and devices I’m testing. I ended up with a DIY approach for around $30 and am very happy with the outcome. It’s a simple project that almost anyone can do and is a great introductory power supply for any home lab.

I had a few requirements when I set out:

Variable voltage (up to ~12V)
Current limiting (to protect against stupid mistakes)
Small footprint (my electronics work area is only about 8 square feet)
Relatively cheap

Initially, I considered buying an off the shelf bench power supply, but most of those are either very expensive, very large, or both. I also toyed with the idea of an ATX power supply as a bench power supply, but those don’t offer current limiting (and are capable of delivering enough current to destroy any project I’m careless with).

2017 Christmas Ornament

david@systemoverlord.com (David Tomaschik) — Sun, 24 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000

After playing around with a custom DEF CON badge, I wanted to do another electronics project just for fun. What better time to share electronics with others than Christmas? So I decided to do a custom ornament for friends and family.

Though it shared some characteristics with my DEF CON badge (blinken lights, battery powered, etc.), the similarities ended there. In this case I want something lightweight (it’s going on a tree branch), simple (the XXV badges took a long time to assemble by hand), and that could run off a coin cell battery for days.

Hardware Hacking, Reversing and Instrumentation: A Review

david@systemoverlord.com (David Tomaschik) — Sat, 11 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I recently attended Dr. Dmitry Nedospasov’s 4-day “Hardware Hacking, Reversing and Instrumentation” training class as part of the HardwareSecurity.training event in San Francisco. I learned a lot, and it was incredibly fun class. If you understand the basics of hardware security and want to take it to the next level, this is the course for you.

The class predominantly focuses on the use of FPGAs for breaking security in hardware devices (embedded devices, microcontrollers, etc.). The advantage of FPGAs is that they can be used to implement arbitrary protocols and can operate with very high timing resolution. (e.g., single clock cycle, since it’s essentially synthesized hardware.)

Hacker Summer Camp 2017: XXV Badge

david@systemoverlord.com (David Tomaschik) — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000

In my post the Many Badges of DEF CON 25 I may have not-so-subtly hinted that there was something I was working on. While none of the ones I listed were created in response to the announcement that DEF CON had been forced to switch to “Plan B” with their badges, mine more or less was. Ever since I saw the Queercon badge in 2015, I’d had the idea to create my own electronic badge, but the announcement spurred me on to action.

The Many Badges of DEF CON 25

david@systemoverlord.com (David Tomaschik) — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000

If you follow DEF CON news at all, you’ll know that there’s been some kind of issue with the badges. But don’t worry, DEF CON will have badges, but so will the community!

What do I mean by this? Well, badge hacking has long been a DEF CON tradition, but in the past few years, we’ve seen more and more unofficial badges appearing at DEF CON. This year seems to be a massive upswing, and while I’m sure some of that was in progress before the badge announcement, ~~I believe at least some of it is the community response to the DEF CON badge issue~~. (Edit: All of the listed badges were apparently in the works before the DEF CON announcement. Thanks to @wbm312 for setting me straight.)

Applied Physical Attacks and Hardware Pentesting

david@systemoverlord.com (David Tomaschik) — Sat, 13 May 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This week, I had the opportunity to take Joe Fitzpatrick’s class “Applied Physical Attacks and Hardware Pentesting”. This was a preview of the course he’s offering at Black Hat this summer, and so it was in a bit of an unpolished state, but I actually enjoyed the fact that it was that way. I’ve taken a class with Joe before, back when he and Stephen Ridley of Xipiter taught “Software Exploitation via Hardware Exploitation”, and I’ve watched a number of his talks at various conferences, so I had high expectations of the course, and he didn’t disappoint.