Samy Kamkar: Getting Started with Reverse Engineering

Samy Kamkar is a security researcher know of uncovering vulnerabilities in wireless systems. His talk at the 2017 Hackaday Superconference covered keyless entry systems for automobiles, using man-in-the-middle replay attacks.

It's easy to look at Samy and assume he has super-human reverse engineering skills. That may be true, but they're built up from a set of simple first steps which he discusses in this interview. Start by researching, look for patterns, and break down big problems into small ones.

Watch Samy Kamkar's talk at the 2017 Hackaday Superconference:

Read the article:

Visit Samy Kamkar's webpage:

[Filaxsan]

Always great to hear from Samy, very positive and intelligent guy!

[discoverdev]

Samy Kamkar ❤️
Seriously underrated guy!

[jeffbeck]

This is a great video for people like me who are not hacker types. Basically he says put on a logic analyzer on chips that you do know what they are doing and look for square waves to denote a clock, and check out all the pins on the chip on the device you are trying to understand or hack to see if they are high are low, or are a clock, or whatever. This is for when there is no ID on the chip. He just basically opens the box, puts a logic analyzer on the chip, studies the circuit, etc. But for me, and most people reading this, the key is the logic analyzer on the chip. Plus if you stick around, he tells you how to steal expensive new cars. This will be an important skill during the revolution.

[kylewollman]

What happens when you drive the car out of range of the antenna near the key fob? What happens when you want to start the car again? Do you need to stalk the person with the fob and transmit the response every time?

[GameSmilexD]

couple hours learning with this guy and you can spit on your college degree xD

[erfanrahmani]

I think you should have tag that Mic to Samy!

[PSpurgeonCubFan]

"I'm Lazy" - No way, Dude - looking up on Google to see if someone's already worked their way through the heavy lifting isn't lazy - work smarter, not harder

[alfred]

I like that they're talking about software in front of a Tormach.

[ah]

I quite disagree when he said it's difficult to find a security solution. I can provide a smiple logic to deter wireless attack in this case

[hotfreshrider]

Unsubbed from Sam's channel because no new content.. 🙄 pleased he still being featured in videos!

[jeffbeck]

Really bad mic'ing. Reverby room. Hard to listen to. Missed oppty.

[damirdze]

You succeed to hack not because you are a good hacker but because the poor engineering or the incomplete technology.