BruCON 0x09 - Weaponizing the BBC Micro:Bit - Damien Cauquil
Channel: BruCON Security Conference
Date: 2017-10-06

In 2015, BBC sponsored Micro:Bit was launched and offered to one million
students in the United Kingdom to teach them how to code. This device is
affordable and have a lot of features and can be programmed in Python rather
than C++ like the Arduino. When we discovered this initiative in 2016, we
quickly thought it was possible to turn this tiny device into some kind of
super-duper portable wireless attack tool, as it is based on a well-known
2.4GHz RF chip produced by Nordic Semiconductor.

It took us a few months to hack into the Micro:Bit firmware and turn it
into a powerful wireless attack tool able to sniff keystrokes from wireless
keyboards or to hijack and take complete control of quadcopters during flight.
We also developed many tools allowing security researchers to interact with
proprietary 2.4GHz protocols, such as an improved sniffer inspired by the
mousejack tools designed by Bastille. Source code of our custom firmware and related tools are opensource.

The Micro:Bit will become a nifty platform to create portable RF attack tools
and ease the life of security researchers dealing with 2.4GHz protocols !