Debug ports with root shells, gaping security holes, and lazy copy-and-paste circuitry lurk within your electronics. Overcome your impostor syndrome with these eye-rolling, groan-inducing tales that show how low the bar can go. In this humorously pragmatic session, prototype developer Zack Freedman exposes the filthy hacks and sloppy design that go largely unchecked into nearly every consumer device. Learn how to extract firmware, trick bootloaders, literally solder your way into a root shell, and more. Hackers will learn to barge into the backdoors that embedded developers don’t get paid enough to close. Programmers will marvel at the astonishingly terrible decisions their colleagues push to production. Engineers will discover electrical engineering so incredibly lazy that it strains physics and defies reason. Of course, you’ll learn how to clean up the filth and improve your own designs by closing root shells, plugging backdoors, locking down firmware, designing defensively, provisioning secrets, and more. You’ll walk away a bit savvier, a bit more prepared, and a bit more disgusted with your favorite electronics.
Speakers: Zach Freedman