HackRF One is a wide band

software defined radio Software-defined radio (SDR) is a radio communication system where components that have been traditionally implemented in analog hardware (e.g. mixers, filters, amplifiers, modulators/demodulators, detector (radio), detectors, etc.) are instead ...

(SDR) half-duplex

transceiver In radio communication, a transceiver is an electronic device which is a combination of a radio ''trans''mitter and a re''ceiver'', hence the name. It can both transmit and receive radio waves using an antenna, for communication purposes. The ...

created and manufactured by Great Scott Gadgets. It is able to send and receive signals. Its principal designer, Michael Ossmann, launched a successful

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign in 2014 with a first run of the project called HackRF. The hardware and software's open source nature has attracted hackers, amateur radio enthusiasts, and information security practitioners. SDR HackRF one PCB

Overview

HackRF One is capable of receiving and transmitting on a frequency range of 1 MHz to 6 GHz with maximum output power of up to 15 dBm depending on the band. The unit comes with an SMA antenna port, clock input and clock output SMA ports, and a USB 2.0 port. HackRF One integrates with popular software defined radio software such as

GNU Radio GNU Radio is a free software development toolkit that provides signal processing blocks to implement software-defined radios and signal processing, signal-processing systems. It can be used with external Radio frequency, RF hardware to create soft ...

and SDR#. The popularity of HackRF One as a security research platform has made it featured in many

information security Information security, sometimes shortened to InfoSec, is the practice of protecting information by mitigating information risks. It is part of information risk management. It typically involves preventing or reducing the probability of unauthorize ...

conference talks such as BlackHat,

DEF CON DEF CON (also written as DEFCON, Defcon or DC) is a hacker convention held annually in Las Vegas, Nevada. The first DEF CON took place in June 1993 and today many attendees at DEF CON include computer security professionals, journalists, lawyer ...

and BSides.

Academic research

Kimmo Heinäaro presented a paper at the 2015 International Conference on Military Communications and Information Systems (ICMCIS) outlining how military

tactical communications Tactical communications are military communications in which information of any kind, especially orders and military intelligence, are conveyed from one command, person, or place to another upon a battlefield, particularly during the conduct of co ...

could be hacked with HackRF One and other open source tools. In 2017, researchers described a

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

spoofing attack to feed a vehicle false signals and mapping data to deliver the target to a desired location.

Media attention

HackRF One has received criticism in several media reports because it can be used to intercept and replay the key fob signals to open car and garage doors.

External links

HackRF One
on Great Scott Gadgets

References

{{reflist Software-defined radio