This document provides an introduction to radio frequency (RF) hacking. It begins with an introduction by the author and a disclaimer about not teaching Wi-Fi hacking. It then explains that RF is everywhere due to wireless technologies like IoT devices. The document covers RF basics like frequencies and modulation. It discusses RF hardware options like HackRF and RTL-SDR for receiving signals. Common wireless protocols like Zigbee, BLE, and Wi-Fi are also mentioned. The document concludes with a demonstration and Q&A session disclaimer.

1. RF Hacking 101
Hrishikesh Somchatwar

2. About me ● My name is Hrishikesh Somchatwar
● OWASP Nagpur Chapter Leader
● Engineering Student
● Loves Hardware and Wireless
● Just a noob trying to share knowledge
● Twitter Handle @8080hex (I like getting msgs)

3. Disclaimer:
We are talking about Hacking with
Radio Frequencies so don’t expect
to learn Wi-Fi hacking here.

4. Why RF?
● Because everything is wireless!
● Radio Frequencies are everywhere!
● Internet of Things (IoT) devices use RF
communication

5. Current
scenario with
RF hacking

7. Source:
https://thehackernews.com/s
earch/label/radio%20hacking

8. RF Basics
Physics Baby!
● Frequencies!

9. RF basics
Image Source:
http://itlaw.wikia.com/wiki/Fre
quency
● If the frequency is between 3KHz - 300 GHz
then its a radio wave.
● In simple words, frequency is the no. of
cycles a radio wave completes in a given time
duration. Usually the time duration is
measured in seconds. So the no of cycles per
second is the frequency of the radio waves.

10. RF basics
Physics baby!
● IoT devices communicate over wireless
protocols.
● They use EM Waves for communication
Electromagnetic waves.
● Electromagnetic waves can be Radio
waves, Microwaves, Infrared radiation,
visible light, Ultraviolet light, X-rays etc
● So how do you classify them?

11. RF Basics
Physics baby!
Radio frequencies are described as multiples of
hertz –
● KHz, kilohertz : thousand cycles per
second.
● MHz, megahertz : million cycles per second.
● GHz, gigahertz : billion cycles per second.

12. RF Basics
Physics Baby!
The process of mixing/adding our data into the
carrier wave is termed as modulation.
Carrier wave is used for carrying something.

13. RF Basics
Tx/Rx
Transmitter (Tx)- It is a device used to generate and
transmit radio waves.
Receiver (Rx)- It is a device used to receive radio
waves transmitted by the transmitter.
Transceiver (Rx/Tx) - A device capable of sending
and receiving the radio waves is called as a
transceiver
We need a hardware device to capture radio signal
and a software to analyze the signals.

14. Hardware
Some device is capable of just capturing/receiving the signal and
some are capable of transmitting and receiving the signal. A device
which can receive/capture the signal is called as a receiver or RX and
a device which can receive and transmit the signal is called
transceiver or RX/TX. Below is the list of device along with the
capability

15. RF
Hardware
HackRF
● Rx/Tx
● 1Mhz-6Ghz
● open source
hardware
Img Src: https://greatscottgadgets.com/images/h1-
preliminary1-445.jpeg

16. RF Hardware
RTL-SDR
● Rx Only
● 24MHz-1766MHz
● Cheap

17. Cannot discuss about all the available
hardware in the market

18. RF Protocols
● Zigbee
● BLE
● Wi-Fi
● IEEE 802.15.4
● z-wave

19. DEMO
WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE
FOR ANY ILLEGAL ACTIONS
DONE BY YOU

20. Q/A Session
Thanks!