Schema till cryptoparty 18/4

Posted on April 17, 2013 by MMN-o

Schemat på Cryptopartyt imorgon (18/4) är som följer, med tider som säkert kan diffa
ett par minuter hit och dit:

18:00 öppnar vi dörrarna och folk kan komma
~18:30 låter vi Codemill presentera sig som värdar
18:30 presenterar Umeå Hackerspace generella begrepp kring säkerhet
~18:45 berättar Thomas Kvist om Umeå kommuns öppna data (vilket öppnar för grävande datajournalistik!)
19:00 Umeås lokaltrafik – “Är de nya busskorten faktiskt säkrare?”

C:a 19:30 sprider vi ut oss på stationer:

GPG (kryptering och signering av mail, data, kommunikation)
Tails (starta datorn till säker miljö utan att någon märker!)
Hackerspacestuff (här kan man prata med oss om allt från internet till bitcoins, aluminiumgjutning, busskort och budgetmekano)

Små variationer kan säkert uppstå – men sådant är livet. Vi ska göra
vårt bästa för att hålla tiderna och hoppas att vi kan erbjuda ny
kunskap och information som alla kan ha nytta av i ett övervakat samhälle.

Cryptoparty nu på torsdag 18 april 2013

Posted on April 12, 2013 by MMN-o

Nu blir det Cryptoparty i Umeå igen! Vi håller till hos det lokala IT-företaget Codemill AB på Riddaregatan 8 (Haga) och välkomnar varmt samtliga intresserade av IT-säkerhet, kryptologi och digitalt dataskydd. Vi öppnar dörrarna 18:00 och planerar hålla på till åtminstone 21:00.

De som vill komma får gärna anmäla sitt intresse, om än ej obligatoriskt. Det kan även vara en idé att läsa förra årets inlägg “Cryptoparty-upptakt” av pettter som uppvärmning för säkerhetstänk.

Pressmeddelande 2013-04-12 [GPG-signerad .txt]

Umeå Hackerspace, en ideell förening med bas i Umeå, arrangerar på torsdag 18/4 2013 ett “Cryptoparty” för journalister, privatpersoner och övriga intresserade av digital säkerhet och trygghet. Det börjar 18:00 och håller på åtminstone ett par timmar. Vi bjuder på tilltugg och det är gratis inträde! Fotografering undanbedes utan att fråga de inblandade i förväg.

Mer info nedan och länk till frivillig (men önskad) anmälan är här: https://cryptoparty.umeahackerspace.se/

Detta blir det andra cryptopartyt som arrangeras – denna gång är huvudföreläsningen:

Umeås lokaltrafik – är de nya busskorten faktiskt säkrare?

Övriga ämnen som kan/kommer tas upp är:

Bitcoin – en decentraliserad valuta
Kryptering för aktivister, journalister och privatpersoner
Surfa anonymt med TOR
Decentraliserade trådlösa nätverk (projektet “Umesh”)

Som alltid har vi även stationer för att signera varandras GPG-nycklar och man kan fråga andra, kunniga deltagare hur man surfar säkert, anonymt och t.ex. hur man bäst skyddar sina källor och sin privata data.

Cryptopartyt arrangeras i samarbete med det lokala IT-företaget Codemill AB, vars lokaler cryptopartyt håller till i på Riddaregatan 8 (Haga).

I samband med arrangemanget delar vi även ut tryckta skrifter från Stiftelsen för Internetinfrastruktur (.SE) som nyligen släppte sin bok “Digitalt källskydd”, med inriktning mot journalistisk verksamhet och redaktioner, som tar upp viktig information i hur man kan garantera trygghet för sina källor i en digital värld.

Bus Pirate saves the day! (proxmark3 jtag flashing)

Posted on March 21, 2013 by MMN-o

Proxmark3, generally used for wireless snooping of NFC/Mifare communication

After clumsily bricking the Proxmark3 bootrom (i.e. the device’s bootloader for the AT91SAM7S256 ARM cpu), I was looking for a way to recover the device. The documented procedure in the firmware compilation guide assumed the user to have a Segger J-link and their J-Flash ARM utilities (which in total cost about 10,000 SEK – or 1,500 USD).

That’s two months of rent for the hackerspace – I figured I can do better than that. So I made a trip to the internets and researched JTAG programmers, of which there are loads that can handle faster or slower communication with the protocol. In some cases maybe speed is good, such as when debugging or doing things more frequently – but this was a one-time flash occasion – and proprietary JTAG programmer felt far too restricted and expensive.

Sure, there are cheap, hackable alternatives that connect to the parallell port, but that interface is unfortunately of a pretty bygone era. So given that I did not have access to a true parallell port at the time, I had to keep looking for alternatives. Essentially anything that worked with the flashing and debugging utility OpenOCD would be good, and something I could find nearby would be even better! And the OpenOCD list of supported interfaces contained among many others the Bus Pirate, a handy open hardware design that helps hackers with serial communication of just about any kind.

So I managed to find a Bus Pirate in a large pile of electronics. This neat tool has a USB interface and gives you a pin header that can be connected to whatever interface you want, be it UART, SPI, I²C/SMBUS, 1-wire, bit banging… you name it! This includes of course JTAG – and it all basically runs out of the box.

Well, kind of out of the box. I did have to do some research on how to properly communicate specifically with the proxmark3, but essentially all was covered in the OpenOCD at91sam7s512-buspirate.cfg from the proxmark3-lcd project. They have also documented the proper command sequence in OpenOCD telnet control, which can be neat to have in handy:
> halt > flash erase_sector 0 0 15 > flash erase_sector 1 0 15 > flash write_image ../armsrc/obj/fullimage.elf > flash write_image ../bootrom/obj/bootrom.elf

All of this works great together, of course assuming one has built OpenOCD with buspirate support and successfully compiled your proxmark3 code (together with an ARM toolchain) to get the ELF binaries. Nevertheless, those are no real issues as it’s all quality, open source software. The only downside in this mix is that the Bus Pirate isn’t quite as quick as, say the Segger J-link, but when we’re talking about flashing a couple of hundred kibibytes at the most… Who cares? Just wait a second more – and voilà, a working Proxmark3 again!

If you’re not sure how to connect the Bus Pirate to the proxmark3 JTAG interface, have no fear. That was a piece of cake as well. The following image shows the 20-pin JTAG header of the Proxmark3. Pin number 1 is in the corner of the circuit board (pin 20 being closest to the center):

The following is the Bus Pirate pinout together with which JTAG pin you should connect to. I connected GND and the 4 labeled connections on the top: TDO, TMS, TDI, TCK (leaving out VCC, as I powered the Proxmark3 from USB):

With these connections made, starting up OpenOCD -f at91sam7s512-buspirate.cfg and running telnet localhost 4444 will get you an OpenOCD prompt where you can perform the erase and flash commands listed previously in this post. If something doesn’t go as it should, look either to the respective software support channels for help, or perhaps (though it’s not as likely) we can help you in the comments below.

How can you hack e-waste?

Posted on March 2, 2012 by MMN-o

This weekend – on Sunday at 13.00 CET – we’re having a workshop in the hackerspace! The workshop is a three-parter and organized by Brian Oko, a student at the Umeå Institute of Design, and will explore what one can do with e-waste. The three sessions are separating, fixing and repurposing.

The workshop will have two followup sessions, one being the following tuesday (March 6th, sometime after 18.30) and one on Saturday (March 10th, around 13.00). The facilities will be open for anyone to come join during these hours – if we’re out of e-waste you can still just hang around or join in other ways. If you know you’ll come by, please mark it with a signature of interest at this Doodle calendar or post a comment below.

The hackerspace is in the cellar of Fabriksgatan 8b in Umeå, marked with a sign that (among other things) says Umeå Hackerspace.

If you think this sounds interesting, please let us know (or to Brian directly) and there may very well be followup workshops with a greater advance on the invitation!

Power of Adhocracy – live stream at the space!

Posted on October 25, 2011 by MMN-o

Umeå Hackerspace ordnar öppet hus ikväll på källarvåningen Fabriksgatan 8b, där vi liveströmmar från hackerspacet Sparvnästets konferens ikväll: Power of Adhocracy.

Sändningarna börjar 18.00 och pågår till 22.00.

Can’t attend? There will be a live stream of the talks.

17:00 – 18:00 : Socialize & Mingle

18:00 – 18:30 : Elis of Telecomix (talk in Swedish)
— What is the Telecomix?

18:40 – 19:00 : jn & pawal of DFRI (talk in Swedish)
— Presentation av Föreningen för digitala fri- och rättigheter (DFRI)

19:00 – 20:00 : Food and refreshments

20:00 – 20:20 : Mats Henricson (talk in English)
— Activism economics – Funding your project with Bitcoins

20:30 – 21:20 : Jacob Appelbaum (talk and Q&A in English)
— Internet censorship and ways for activists to contribute to circumvention

21:30 – 21:50 : Caroline Wamala of SPIDER (talk in English)
— Exploring conditions for successful Mobile Governance in Kenya

21:50 – 22:00 : Socialize. Last chance to swap contact info and GPG keys.

Kallelse till distriktsstämma för UFöN

Posted on September 6, 2011 by MMN-o

Till att börja med är Umeå Hackerspace medlemmar i Förbundet Unga Forskare.

FUFs styrelse har kallat till en extra distriktsstämma för distriktet Övre Norrland. Stämman hålls i Umeå Hackerspace lokaler på Fabriksgatan 8b kv. i Umeå klockan 19.00 tisdag 20 september 2011.

Alla tillhörande handlingar är bifogade i detta inlägg:

Kickbike fun in the space

Posted on May 28, 2011 by MMN-o

We just got rid of a table and some crap. Time to celebrate the new empty space within Umeå Hackerspace!

Also, the police may have visited us, as can be seen on this surveillance tape.

Hacking your CD rack for science!

Posted on April 4, 2011 by MMN-o

Given that culture is no longer stored as a plastic disc, there’s really no good reason to keep the old racks in your livingroom. But throwing stuff in the bin never feels quite right. Thus, the best solution is to simply renew the functionality of your hardware.

A creative hacker in Umeå Hackerspace figured that her test tubes ought to be stored more conveniently. A couple of minutes later using the space’s metal hacksaw, pliers and imagination, the wall-mountable test tube rack was taking form.

Umeå Hackerspace, org-nummer och uppförsbacke

Posted on March 31, 2011 by MMN-o

Skatteverket beslutade 23 mars 2011 att ideella föreningen Umeå Hackerspace skall tilldelas organisationsnumret 802458-8587. Föreningens interimstyrelse, med ordförande Petter Ericson, som valdes tidigare i år intervjuades av Mikael Hansson från Infotech Umeå strax efter det konstitutionerande mötet.

Med anledning av den officiella organisationen så fungerar föreningen enligt demokratiska principer och lyder under valda stadgar. Det finns därmed även ett registrerat namn, vilket är varför vi numera använder oss av domännamnet umeahackerspace.se och dylikt istället för projektnamnet “Grill-bit”.

Absolut inte för att skryta, men det är minst sagt lustigt, så hann föreningen polisanmälas redan innan Skatteverket fattade sitt formella beslut. Som nämnt ovan arbetar vi efter demokratiska principer och har inget intresse av att utöva lagbrott, varför vi finner denna anmälan ganska osmickrande.

Utöver detta har även andra mindre korrekta kopplingar till hackerkulturen gjorts i media på sistone, där Västerbottens Kuriren beskrivit DDoS som hacking t.ex. Dock gör inte all media denna felkoppling, även om det tillhör samma koncern, och kallar det rätteligen för överbelastningsattack.

Med dessa händelser som inträffat bara alldeles nyligen kan det konstateras att problemlösare och hackerkulturen i övrigt har en uppförsbacke att vandra. Förhoppningsvis kan vi nå ut och bemötas som de vanliga, laglydiga medborgare som vi är. Föreningens syfte är att sprida kunskap och väcka uppmärksamhet kring problemlösning och teknik – något som alla människor har nytta av.

Är du intresserad av att delta i våra aktiviteter är det öppet hus i lokalen i källarvåningen på Fabriksgatan 8b varje tisdag från 18:30 till 22:00. Välkommen!

Fixing a Casio PT-1 keyboard

Posted on March 8, 2011 by MMN-o

Ever plugged in too much power into your electronic equipment? Or for some other reason seen smoke come out of it? A friend of Umeå Hackerspace had a Casio PT-1 that he apparently had tried to use with a bit too much power in the supply. Fortunately he hadn’t caused too much damage.

The Casio PT-1 is an old piece of hardware, dating back to the long-long agos when circuit boards weren’t packed with integrated circuitry and everything was done in just a few couple of chips. As a result of this, it has been the subject of much circuit bending throughout the years. A wonderful hobby and definitely something Umeå Hackerspace encourages!

Step one: Flip it over for unscrewing!

But this post is about a damaged PT-1 and how we managed to fix it. Just as with most ordinary hardware problems, the error lies in a single or very few components. In this case it was a blown circuit, a transistor, which had literally been blown to pieces:

The blown transistor, with the new one in place on the board.

It was unfortunately impossible to read the label on the component itself, but according to the circuit board there was supposed to be a transistor there. What was confusing was the layout according to the board, with the Base on one of the edges, rather than in the middle as one is often used to. Fortunately the circuit board – as is more common with older hardware – had the component name printed on it:

T9=2SA1199R, a PNP transistor

A quick search on the internet gave us the datasheet for the old component, a 2SA1199R, which turned out to be a PNP transistor. Fortunately we had a lot of BC557s lying around and grabbed one of those. Remembering the odd layout for the legs, we matched it up (backwards and with a twist!) and stuck it where the old component had been fitted. A little bit of soldering later, it was time to screw the keyboard back together. Not much to our surprise, it worked. Old hardware sure is nice to work with!

There’s a reason why there are safety circuits built in. Not just for your physical safety, but also for the electronics. Hardware is much easier to fix when everything isn’t integrated – and even more so when the components are labeled and specified right on the circuit board!

Umeå Hackerspace the organisation

Posted on January 19, 2011 by MMN-o

This afternoon, 2011-01-19 at 19.19 CET, Umeå Hackerspace will have its constitutional meeting. This means that it will become a registered organisation that can not only sign deals and organize events but also manage an economy and democratically use the money for whichever cause the members see fit.

The upside of this is of course accountability. There will be a real organisation with real people that, when media or whomever wants to interact, are official representatives of Umeå Hackerspace. Also the responsibility over common resources is shared between reliable, elected members of the organisation.

The downside of this is the possible staleness of an organisation. The most creative hierarchies are flat, where no one has more or less power than the next person. It is therefore very important that the individuals elected to the board are open-minded and neutral.

All-in-all I personally believe that the organisation created will mostly be one of those necessary for certain interactions with other organisations. Such as organising events. The everyday activities, hacking or otherwise, will most likely seldom have anything to do with the formal organisation – these are still mostly spontaneous, random interactions between people. Nothing necessarily scheduled, planned or managed.

So don’t think we’re losing our grip and fading into boring, old-fashioned hierarchies. It’s nothing like that. Becoming a formal, registered organisation is only a step in becoming more relatable for your average Joe – rather than imposing some fictional idea of authority.

You are welcome to become a member, or even attend the constitutional meeting. It will be held tonight at 19.19 CET. The address is Fabriksgatan 8b kv in Umeå. I hear there will be coffee and some sort of related snack.

Umeå Hackerspace featured on Infotech Umeå

Posted on January 13, 2011 by MMN-o

MMN-o and pettter. Photo: Mikael Hansson/Infotech Umeå

With a Grill-bit delegation having visited 27c3, meeting hackers from all over the world, the local technology internet magazine InfoTech Umeå wanted an interview.

The article produced is in Swedish and rather lightly informs of the general hacker mindset. It also speaks briefly of our engagement in internet activism (such as Telecomix) for a more open and democratic society, which was a common interest with and subject of talks at the CCC.

The point is also made that we’re doing it (“being hackers” as the author Mikael Hansson writes) not only because it’s important but also because it’s fun. A perfect combination of interest.

The arcade machine is getting there…

Posted on January 11, 2011 by MMN-o

Arcade machines are a thing of the past, you might think. Big, clunky and expensive with a just about as lifelike experience as your old 15″ CRT, except for the actual controls. And those only interest people with some sort of nostalgic feeling to the golden arcade days.

Grill-bit arcade machine running MAME

And there are of course those among us who still remember the joystick. As a result, Grill-bit has for a long time had an arcade-ish platform which has been the case of a multitude of hardware/software bugs and just plain bad luck. Either the motherboard’s been bad, or maybe it lacked an AGP slot (or better) for accelerated graphics, or the graphic cards have been crap. One try included an old OpenGL accelerated PCI graphics card on a super computer node, but random problems kept popping up… So better hardware had to be found.

So, as it happens, last night when cleaning up in the space and getting ready for 2011, a motherboard complete with CPU and memory located nearby was found in one of the shelves. Voilà! It worked marvellously. An already installed Ubuntu system with MAME, previously used in the buggy constellations, was checked with badblocks and then booted with the rest of our arcade machine.

The controls are currently buggy. For some reason the entire thing is steering to the left all the time, but this’ll be looked at more closely later. But once it’s entirely up and running you’re invited to come and play! If we can find a permanent place for it, as it is taking up a rather lot of space in our space.

Wind speed monitoring and an oscilloscope?

Posted on January 10, 2011 by MMN-o

Sunday evening and nothing to do? Well, at least this evening there were people in the space and equipment to play with. For example a random wind speed monitoring device that we examined and found out that it’s basically just a dumb rotary sensor that triggers an interrupt on your serial port. Then any calculations needed are performed on the computer – just as with fan speed measurements. Ingenious, but not smart, so to say.

Look at it go!

So we spent our sunday evening looking at the wave form of a spinning wind meter on an oscilloscope. Just to make really, really sure that we knew what we were looking it.

Welcome to Grill-bit. We find dots interesting.

Umeå Hackerspace

uhck me plz

Author Archives: MMN-o