This is a quick overview of my initial delving into SDR from a pen testing perspective. It is admittedly very basic and introductory - I hope to expand the talk quite a bit over the coming months. Presented at CodeMash, January 8, 2014

1. Software Defined Radio
and the Hacker
Rob Gillen
@argodev
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

2. Don’t Be Stupid
The following presentation describes real
attacks on real systems. Please note that
most of the attacks described would be
considered ILLEGAL if attempted on
machines that you do not have explicit
permission to test and attack. I assume no
responsibility for any actions you perform
based on the content of this presentation
or subsequent conversations.
Please remember this basic guideline: With
knowledge comes responsibility.

3. Disclaimer
The content of this presentation
represents my personal views and
thoughts at the present time. This
content is not endorsed by, or
representative in any way of my
employer nor is it intended to be a
view into my work or a reflection on
the type of work that I or my group
performs. It is simply a hobby and
personal interest and should be
considered as such.

4. Definition
Software-defined radio (SDR) is a radio
communication system where components that
have been typically implemented in
hardware (e.g. mixers, filters,
amplifiers, modulators/demodulators,
detectors, etc.) are instead implemented
by means of software on a personal
computer or embedded system.[1] While the
concept of SDR is not new, the rapidly
evolving capabilities of digital
electronics render practical many
processes which used to be only
theoretically possible.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_defined_radio

5. Simple Starting Kit

6. Slightly more advanced

7. And Another…

8. DEMO: Expensive FM
Radio

9. Why do I care?
• Everything emits a signal
• You may be emitting a signal I can
learn something from
• Noise Floor Exploration

10. Listening in…
• What

13. How to Make a $19 Police
Radio Scanner

14. What can I Do?
• Spectrum Analysis
• Wireless Signal Injection
• OpenBTS
• OpenLTE
• SCADA
• Infrastructure (Microwave comms)

18. Watch it live…
• http://maps.spench.net/aviation/

19. Wait… can you listen to
me?

20. Prevention?

21. Resources
• http://www.instructables.com/id/Howto-Make-a-19-Police-RadioScanner/?ALLSTEPS
• http://www.rtl-sdr.com/exploringunintended-radio-emissions-rtl-sdrtalk-now-available-youtube/
• http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/
• http://spench.net/

22. Questions/Contact
Rob Gillen
rob@gillenfamily.net
http://rob.gillenfamily.net
@argodev