NSA Playset Unveiled: USB Tools & Gadgets from ShmooCon 2015 🔍

Dominic Spill, Michael Ossmann, and Jared Boone

USB implants were among the most talked about gadgets in the NSA ANT catalog after it leaked last year. Concealed in cables and connectors, these devices appear to be designed primarily to provide covert communication channels to malware operating on a host computer. Secondarily it seems that they could be used to implement USB attacks or to monitor connected USB devices.

We'll demonstrate tools we've built for the same capabilities. This will be the first public demonstration of USB man-in-the-middle with Daisho, our SuperSpeed USB platform for wired communication security research. Additionally we will show capabilities recently added to USBProxy, a software framework that can operate on hardware platforms such as BeagleBone Black. Just for fun, we'll also play with TURNIPSCHOOL, our own RF implant hidden in a USB cable.

Dominic Spill has been building Bluetooth packet sniffers since 2007; he now works on Ubertooth and USBProxy among other communications sniffing projects.

Michael Ossmann is a wireless security researcher who makes hardware for hackers. He founded Great Scott Gadgets in an effort to put exciting new tools into the hands of innovative people.

Jared Boone designs open-source hardware focused on radio, music, art, and timekeeping. He dabbles in security and privacy topics when opportunities present.