Alok Menghrajani

Currently: security consulting and lecturer.

Previously: security engineering at Square Block. Co-author of Hack (the programming language) and put the 's' in https at Facebook Meta. Maker of various CTF puzzles.


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The hardware CTF

tags: hardware | ctf

A puzzle I designed for Square's 2016 CTF. I was inspired by DefCon's badge puzzles (significantly easier to solve however).

Want to try it out? Reach out to me and I might be able to mail out a spare.

Some info

  • Feel free to abuse the hardware; it's yours.
  • The board is easy to power from a wide range of sources. Don't go over ~35V. Some components might heat up a little.
  • Solving the puzzle may require using sharp or hot tools (knives, soldering iron, etc.). Handle your tools carefully.

Hazardous substances

  • The board is lead-free. It was printed thru Oshpark.
  • The components were choosen to be RoHS compliant, lead free. They were purchased on Digikey
  • I used a variety of different solder. Unfortunately, most solder contains lead. Keep out of the reach of children.

Credits

Andy, Todor, John and Matt helped me go from prototype to a finished board; answering my various questions along the way. Cedric and Chris helped solder some of these.

Prototype
Bare board (v1)
Final board (v2)
We made 12 of these!