Hacking Techniques: Risks and Security Measures Explained

Sammy Kamkar reveals that car and camera hacking is alarmingly feasible with the right techniques.

### The Dark Side of Technology: Hacking Risks and Security Measures
* 💻 At 19, I faced serious consequences for releasing a virus, leading to a **raid by the Secret Service** and a **two-year hiatus from computers**.
* 🔌 While devices meant for security can be repurposed for malicious intent, any potential explosion from tricking a device would likely result in a **minor spark** rather than a **significant explosion**.
* 🛡 Users are advised to cover their cameras to prevent hacking, as the likelihood of being targeted is low, but **malware attacks via untrusted links** remain a **common threat**.
* 🔑 A significant risk for consumers is using the same password across multiple sites, making it **essential to utilize a password manager for unique, strong passwords**.
* 🚗 Car hacking is feasible, with researchers demonstrating the ability to **remotely control vehicles** like the Jeep Grand Cherokee using vulnerabilities in the system.
* 📡 The simplicity of receivers in devices like garage doors makes them **susceptible to brute force attacks**, allowing unauthorized access with **minimal effort**.
* 🚦 Traffic lights can also be manipulated through industrial systems, where attackers could potentially **transmit signals to change light patterns** without direct access.
* 👁 Modern cameras can be hacked to operate **without indicating their status**, highlighting the need for **awareness regarding the security of everyday technology**.

I can't think of any mechanism that would actually allow you to act physically cause something to explode. Alright, car hacking, that is 100% doable. Okay, they're looking at someone's camera. I see if you are concerned about your camera being hacked. There's a very easy solution and it's uh hi. I'm Sammy Kamkar. I'm a security researcher and computer hacker. Today, we're gonna be breaking down hacking techniques in the video game watchdogs. Be sure to LIKE and subscribe for more episodes of experts react. Oh, that's interesting. You could potentially see electricity. I mean, there's actually devices you can use to hold up to see power going through things. Like, you typically have to be pretty close. Actually, you could use something like a FLIR camera just to see heat signatures. Because you would see Heat, essentially resistive losses going through anything with power running through it. So, that might give you a similar visual île to what he's saying. It is absolutely doable because it's a gate. You're probably gonna want something

like a clicker, right? Like a garage door clicker. So, that clicker is gonna communicate over a radio frequency (RF) within the electromagnetic spectrum. And with that, there's gonna be a receiver connected to that system in order to trigger the gate, to trigger the motor. Now, that RF receiver is gonna be looking for some specific signal, and typically that's a fixed code. It's like a password, let's just say it's one, two, three, four, or five. So, if you ever send that one, two, three, four, five on the right frequency with the right modulation and encoding, then the receiver will pick that up and say, Oh, that's the right code. Now, the problem with a lot of these garages and gates that are controlled by these receivers is the receivers themselves. The code they're looking for, the password they're looking for, is typically a very, very, very small number. But rather than one, two, three, four, or five, it's more like one, two, three, and then each one that they sell, they just change the number. So, in one case, the

numbers like 1, 2, 3. In the other case, the number is like 2, 3, 4. And this key space, or basically the amount of possible combinations, is typically so, so low that you can very easily build a device, program it to say, Okay, I'm gonna try code one, and I'm gonna try code two, I'm gonna try code three. And because you can send that at such a high speed, within seconds or four minutes, you can then unlock most of these garages or gates that are using these fixed codes. It's like a password, and you know if you can go through all the possible passwords, you can actually open these traffic lights. Actually, that's actually something that has been done. Traffic lights are typically controlled by these industrial systems that are really synchronizing a lot of the lights within a town. However, some of these traffic lights will also have additional mechanisms or additional systems that are connected. The older ones used to actually have these infrared sensors, so you'd see a sensor next to the traffic light, and the

infrared they were looking for was a strobe at a certain frequency, and that frequency was configured based off that town's police sirens or ambulance or fire. So that if one of those sensors saw it, it would then say, Oh, I know that's an ambulance or that's a cop car. I'm going to turn red for all the lights around me. And you, as an attacker, could potentially build a device that transmits the correct signal to say, you know, Change the traffic light signal without ever even having access to this device in the first place. Oh, that can be done. It depends on the vehicle. I demonstrated this with a device that created called Own Star, which can essentially take over OnStar vehicles and allows us to do things like unlock the vehicle, remote start, as well as turn on the alarm, even if it's really far away from you because they're actually internet-connected. But it really depends on the vehicle and how they're setting that off, but this is actually doable. All right, car hacking. Unlock any car without breaking in. Yeah.

that is 100% doable. Lots of attacks. There's the own star and roll jam and Charleville and Chris Valasek were able to do all sorts of stuff to vehicles. They were able to remotely control a Jeep Grand Cherokee. It was on the road, so they've done some really awesome attacks. Explosive hacking, Rick enemies, grenade. Well, that's probably totally doable because the people who are probably making grenades or remotely explodable, it's probably a super, super simple receiver, right? You're not gonna spend years of research trying to make a really secure receiver that only explodes when you send, you know, a very particular thing. You're probably just gonna take some off-the-shelf component that you bought online, hook it up, and now you have a remote transmitter for it. And if I know of what all the common, you know, ubiquitous receivers and transmitters are, I'm just gonna brute force and send all of those, and I'll probably set off a lot of sort of off-the-shelf transceivers. They're not

meant for security. They're meant for, you know, remotely turning on your light bulb, but someone is building a makeshift bomb. They're gonna be using that kind of stuff as well, most likely. Okay, you could definitely trick a device into believing it has more current capability than it actually does. Realistically, there's gonna be some sort of breaker that will prevent something like an explosion. I mean, generally, when you have too much current, what you're gonna do is you're just gonna create a fuse. It will be a very, very, very tiny explosion, nothing you would even notice, right? You might see just a tiny bit of smoke. I can't think of any mechanism that would actually allow you to act physically, cause something to explode. You would need some sort of actual explosive material in there. The most you'd really see from something like this is a big spark, and then that's it. Anything else would really just self-extinguish because they're designed to [Music]. Okay, they're looking at someone's camera. I see intrusion detected. All right, they

have an ID and choose your detection system. That's cool, yeah. There's definitely a tech that can trigger people's camera and microphone without them knowing. Most modern computers will have a physical light that's tied to the camera, so you know that it's enabled. But it's kind of interesting because there are methods of attacks where you can rewrite the firmware within the camera itself. Because the light isn't just 100% tied to the camera being enabled, it's actually tied to a microcontroller. And that microcontroller enables the camera and simultaneously turns on the LED. So if you can rewrite the firmware of that microcontroller, you can then say, you know what, I want you to enable the camera, but do not turn on the LED. There's some pretty cool websites where you can actually see all of these msconfig online cameras, all these IP cameras that are out of people's homes, outside monitoring traffic, all sorts of things. You can basically just go through hundreds and thousands of these cameras to see what's going on. You can just

scroll and scroll and scroll and say, Oh, that looks interesting, click on it and expand and see, and just jump right into that live view. If you are concerned about your camera being hacked, I mean, the likelihood is very low, but there's a very easy solution, and it's just to cover it up. There, the attacks that are most likely to hit everyday users of these technologies are going to be things like malware, things that encrypt files on your computer because you opened an email and clicked the link that you shouldn't have, or downloaded something from an email you shouldn't know. So, I'd say, in general, things to really protect yourself are: don't open untrusted links, try to be cognizant and cautious when you're opening emails that are requesting you to do something or to download a file or open a file. I think the biggest thing that I see that consumers can be hit with is just the fact they're using the same password on multiple websites. So, if you're actually using the same password in multiple places, I definitely suggest

just get a password manager. You only have to remember one password, and from then on, you can have strong, randomized passwords on every website you use. And if one of those gets hacked for any reason, they can't log into any of your other accounts because all of your accounts have different passwords. Those are the top things that will really protect any most consumers. The interesting and fascinating and terrifying thing is that technology is really just invading everything. Even if you don't want to use technology, if you buy a car or you buy a phone, it's gonna have so much technology built in that you've never even asked for. It has a huge impact, and I think a positive impact on our lives, but there is always a dark side to it. I've heard of watchdogs, and I've heard that it's hacking-related. While granted a lot of this isn't realistic simply just due to how fast he's able to do it, a lot of this is absolutely possible. So, it was very cool, and it seems pretty fun. I think I'd be having to try to take

give it a shot. When I was 19, I got in a bit of trouble after releasing the virus. I was raided by the Secret Service. I got in trouble for computer hacking, and then I couldn't touch the computer for a couple of years. Oh my god, are you serious? Yeah. [Music]

Hacker REACTS to Watch Dogs | Experts React

Enjoy a bunch of great gaming content made by people who love video games!

For all brand deals requests, please fill out this form : https://forms.monday.com/forms/159f9f9aff5bd72f69375463381a13e1?r=use1


Gamology

Sammy Kamkar, a security researcher, discusses various hacking techniques depicted in the video game Watchdogs.

He explains that car hacking is feasible and offers solutions for camera hacking concerns.

Kamkar also describes how to exploit fixed codes to unlock garages and traffic lights, highlighting the synchronization of industrial systems in controlling traffic lights.

Garage door clickers communicate with a receiver using radio frequency (RF) to trigger the gate's motor.

The receivers typically look for a fixed code, like a password, to grant access.

The use of a small number of codes for multiple devices can lead to security vulnerabilities, making strong, randomized passwords essential for protection.

Potential Cybersecurity Threats and Car Hacking

Infrared sensors were used to manipulate traffic lights by mimicking emergency vehicle signals.

The Own Star device demonstrated the ability to take over internet-connected vehicles, allowing remote control of functions like unlocking and starting the car.

Additionally, there are methods to hack into computer cameras by rewriting the firmware of the microcontroller, potentially enabling the camera without triggering the LED light.

Protecting Yourself from Technology Hacking

The likelihood of your camera being hacked is low, but covering it up is a simple solution.

Common attacks on everyday users include malware from untrusted links and using the same password across multiple websites.

Remote control of vehicles and explosive hacking are also feasible due to the use of off-the-shelf components for receivers and transmitters.

The speaker got in trouble at 19 for releasing a virus and was raided by the Secret Service, resulting in a couple of years without touching a computer.

They discuss the potential misuse of security devices for harmful purposes, but downplay the likelihood of causing a significant explosion.

The speaker emphasizes that most incidents would result in a small spark or smoke, with the devices designed to self-extinguish.