r/HowToHack • u/Background_Most3242 • 12d ago

Best cheap DIY gear for physical pentesting?

Hey guys,

Just thought I'd share that I've recently become interested in physical pentesting and hardware hacking. All the physical pentesting commercial tools (like Flipper Zero and Hak5 tools) cost way too much for my taste. I'd rather make my own physical pentesting tools using cheap hardware like ESP32 modules, Raspberry Pi Pico's and Arduino boards.

For anyone who does physical red teaming or plays around with hardware:

What DIY tools must one build for a physical pentester?

Does your DIY tool get the job done in a real-world test case?

Where did you guys start with UART/JTAG debugging to pull firmware from chips? Are there any good guides or projects for learning this stuff?

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u/fell_shell 10d ago

A logic analyzer costs around $10 and you can build a CLI only Marauder for probably $20, that should keep you busy for a long time. You could even use the esp32 from the marauder to write to UART boards after doing the recon with the logic analyzer

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u/DisabledVet13 8d ago

Raspberry pi with open floor plans to add random things. Can get the zero (I think that's the model now) for 15 bucks.