Look Who's Talking

Black Hat USA 2013 is getting closer every day and you may want to get in on the early-bird savings by registering before May 31. And while you're thinking about it, we'll fill you in on the next two Briefings in our initial quartet of acceptances.

On-chip debug (OCD) interfaces are very useful, but not always easy to find. They can provide chip-level control of a target device, and are a primary vector to extract program code or data, modify memory contents, or affect device operation on the fly. In JTAGulator: Assisted discovery of on-chip debug interfaces, electrical engineer Joe Grand will introduce JTAGulator, a piece of open-source hardware that will help you locate OCD connections without breaking a sweat. Also expect a brief on reverse-engineering methods, the field's prior art, and in-depth info on how OCD interfaces work.

Next: Femtocells are low-power cellular base stations, often offered cheaply by mobile network operators. They use a standard Internet connection to relay CDMA phone call data to the actual cellular network, sort of like a small cell tower, and work seamlessly, so users never even know they're connected to a femtocell rather than a typical tower. Cellular network authentication isn't easy to break, but Femtocells run Linux inside. In I Can Hear You Now: Traffic Interception and Remote Mobile Phone Cloning with a Compromised CDMA Femtocell iSEC Partners' Tom Ritter and Doug DePerry will show you how to completely own a Femtocell, using it to intercept voice/SMS/data, attack the network, and clone a mobile device without physical access.

So there you go: our four initial acceptances. As we said last time, these are just a taste of the presentations and topics to come, so check with Black Hat on a regular basis to stay abreast of the latest acceptances and other exciting news leading up to Black Hat USA 2013. And if you're feeling social, you can check us out on:

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