Network Analysis

I read this excellent post by Simone Margaritelli on hacking a network connected coffee machine. Simone reverse engineered the Android app that controls the coffee machine and wrote a command line tool for getting the machine going.

Simone took a completely different angle to solving the problem than I would. Being a network person I would have gone straight to tcpdump, grabbed some traces from the app/coffee machine and worked from that.

Instead Simone used a tool to dump a disassembly of the Android apk. I haven't done that before, I don't think it would be my first thought when I had to take something apart. From this post I think I might give it a shot on the local bus app.

The coffee machine looks awesome, you might not want an internet connected coffee machine, but I think it is an awesome idea. Coffee is a great reward for solving a problem, the machine could automate teaching people how to reverse network protocols.

Reading: Little Brother