Remote Detonation of Devices – Should We Be Worried?

[l0rd]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to open up a discussion around a topic that’s been floating around in various security circles. There are some claims circulating that Israel has developed or used technology to remotely detonate certain devices by modifying their hardware (possibly with special batteries or other components). While these reports haven’t been fully substantiated, they raise an important question for us as cybersecurity experts: How real is the threat of hardware modification leading to remote detonation, and should we be worried about this becoming a new form of cyber warfare?

Here’s why this has me thinking:

• The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 incident showed us how unstable batteries can cause explosions due to design flaws or overheating. But what if someone could exploit this intentionally? While that was a manufacturing issue, it demonstrated the power of energy-dense batteries and the danger they pose when mishandled.
• Similarly, we’ve seen vape pens exploding due to faulty batteries. These consumer incidents, though accidental, reveal just how fragile and potentially dangerous modern batteries can be.

Now, let’s consider the possibility of someone intentionally tampering with hardware. In a world where cyber threats continue to evolve, could an actor:

1. Insert malicious hardware or components into a device that can be remotely triggered to cause harm (e.g., a modified battery or circuit)?
2. Remotely trigger the device through vulnerabilities in communication protocols or firmware? Imagine an attacker triggering a device in the same way ransomware is deployed—except the end result is physical destruction.
3. Utilize IoT or network-connected devices to carry out remote sabotage, making consumer electronics or industrial hardware a new battlefield in cyber warfare?

This concept raises the stakes for security professionals who, until now, have largely focused on securing data, networks, and software. But if hardware is being weaponized in ways we haven’t yet anticipated, we might need to rethink our approach.

Some questions I’d like to pose to the community:

• Is this even feasible? Could an attacker realistically introduce hardware modifications that could lead to remote detonation or similar sabotage?
• Have we already seen the first instances? Could the aforementioned Galaxy Note 7 and vape explosions have been exploited by bad actors, rather than just poor design?
• How should we, as cybersecurity professionals, prepare? Do we need to start considering hardware vetting and integrity checks in addition to our current digital security measures?
• What industries are most vulnerable? Should we be particularly concerned about critical infrastructure, consumer electronics, medical devices, or even military applications?

Looking forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts on this. Is this something we should start worrying about, or are we still too far away from such threats? What steps should we be taking to mitigate this risk if it does become more than just speculation?

Let’s get the debate going!

Cheers

[x1337]

Man, this is such a wild topic but also super interesting. The idea of tampering with batteries to cause explosions sounds like some spy movie stuff, but when you mention the Note 7 and vapes blowing up, it really makes you think if something like that could be done on purpose.

From what I know, the Note 7 had a design flaw where the batteries were packed too tight, leading to short circuits. With vapes, it was mostly cheap batteries and bad wiring causing the explosions. But your point about malicious hardware tampering is where things get really serious. I’ve heard of hardware trojans malicious chips or components being slipped into devices during manufacturing. It’s not common, but it’s definitely real. If someone could rig a battery or some internal component like that, I guess it’s possible to cause some real chaos. Not just overheating, but remote-triggering something sounds like a stretch right now… but with IoT and everything being so connected these days, who knows?

The firmware side of things is what’s really spooky. If someone could mess with the firmware that controls the power in a device, they might be able to cause damage without even touching the device.

We’ve already seen hackers take control of pacemakers and cars, so it’s not crazy to think they could trigger a battery malfunction remotely. What really stands out to me is your point about critical infrastructure.

Imagine this being used on a bigger scale, like in hospitals, factories, or even military settings. That could cause some serious damage, not just data breaches or downtime.

[x1337]

First off, the biggest thing to focus on here is supply chain vulnerabilities. If you compromise the hardware at any stage before deployment (factory, shipping, etc.), you could potentially insert malicious components or modify firmware in ways that aren’t easily detectable. We’ve seen hardware supply chain attacks like the Supermicro hack a few years ago where chips were allegedly added to motherboards. It’s rare but possible, and that opens the door to some scary stuff if you can control the power management systems through firmware or embedded components.

From a technical side, as red teamers, we target the weakest links. For most modern devices, that’s firmware. Exploiting firmware vulnerabilities is real, and once you control that, you’re not just limited to data exfiltration or device control. If the firmware manages critical processes like battery charging/discharging, you could mess with those parameters to cause overheating or shutdowns.

In fact, BadUSB is a perfect example of using compromised firmware to turn what seems like a benign device into something dangerous. Now, instead of just controlling software, imagine you have the power to influence hardware behavior.

Also, in a real-world exercise, we’ve seen how messing with power management can have devastating effects in critical environments. In industrial systems, disrupting voltage levels or manipulating power flows could cause equipment failure or shutdowns. You’re not blowing up batteries yet, but you’re absolutely causing operational chaos.

The idea of triggering via IoT isn’t far off either. With the amount of insecure, legacy systems connected to the internet (especially in healthcare or manufacturing), it’s possible to pivot from a compromised device into more critical infrastructure. If you could manipulate a device’s power system remotely, you might not get explosions, but you could cause failures in critical environments like hospitals or factories.

My focus would be on:

• Exploiting firmware vulnerabilities: Specifically in areas like battery management or other power-critical systems.
• Supply chain infiltration: Tampering with components before they ever reach the customer.
• Pivoting via IoT: Gaining access through low-level devices that aren’t as secure and then escalating privileges to critical systems.

We may not be at the point of remote detonations via hacking, but if I had to plan an attack with physical consequences, it’d start with compromising power management and leveraging insecure IoT devices.

[M4sterPh0enix]

I thought I’d jump in and share some info for anyone interested in learning more about hardware security, firmware exploitation, and how to protect against the kind of stuff we’ve been talking about in this thread. There are actually some really cool CTFs, tools, and mechanisms you can use as pentesters to dig deeper into this.

Hardware-based CTFs

If you’re into CTFs and want to focus on hardware/IoT, there are some great options out there:

• DEFCON Hardware Hacking Village: They run live challenges and tutorials on things like firmware exploitation and reverse engineering hardware. If you’re into hands-on hardware attacks, this is where you want to be. They even run workshops if you’re new to hardware hacking.
• Hack the Box (HTB): HTB has some hardware/IoT challenges that are pretty fun to tackle. It’s a great place to start if you want to play around with embedded systems or devices that mimic real-world IoT setups.
• Pwn2Own Competitions: These focus more on professional-level exploitation, and over the years, they’ve included IoT and firmware hacks. You can learn a lot from reading the write-ups from past challenges.

For those interested in diving in, most of these CTFs offer resources and tutorials on how to get started, so don’t worry if hardware isn’t your strong suit. You can learn as you go.

Tools for Pentesters

Here’s a quick rundown of some tools I’ve used for hardware hacking and firmware exploitation. If you want to start exploring this side of pentesting, these will be your go-tos:

• ChipWhisperer: This is a tool for doing side-channel attacks. It’s useful if you want to test the security of hardware encryption or check if a device is leaking data through power usage. There’s a full tutorial available on their site, and they even sell kits you can use to practice attacks on dev boards.
• Firmware Analysis Toolkit (FAT): This is great for extracting and analyzing firmware. If you’re trying to find vulnerabilities in embedded devices, FAT makes it easier to pull apart the firmware and look for flaws. It integrates with Binwalk for extraction and QEMU for emulating the firmware, so you can test in a safe environment.
• Radare2 and Ghidra: These are essential tools for reverse engineering firmware. If you’re trying to analyze how firmware behaves, Ghidra’s decompiler is pretty powerful. Radare2 is a bit more lightweight but really flexible once you get the hang of the commands. Both have solid documentation and tutorials online to get started.

For newbies, I’d recommend starting with Binwalk to unpack firmware and then moving on to Ghidra for deeper analysis.

Learning and Practicing

If you’re just getting started with hardware pentesting, I’d suggest starting with some entry-level CTF challenges or tools like ChipWhisperer. They have a lot of tutorials and are great for getting hands-on experience without needing to build your own lab from scratch.

If anyone’s interested in collaborating on setting up these CTFs or needs help with specific tools, let’s connect and share what we’ve got. Always down to help people get started or level up their pentesting skills!