Cesar Gaytán, security consultant and head of the channel Hackwise, has used Flipper Zero to turn on the television, open his car and even disconnect security cameras from a Wi-Fi network. This device, nicknamed on social networks as “the tamagotchi of the hackers”, It has gone viral on TikTokwhere multiple users share videos in which they they emulate the keys of a hotel room, turn on the air conditioning either hesee animal identification microchips. Some even claim that the device can clone credit cards. But what is true in all this? How does it work, what is it for and to what extent does it pose a threat?
At first glance, this device, which costs about 155 euros, looks like a toy. It is smaller than a mobile and has a 1.4-inch screen on which a dolphin appears that is happy to use it. It is, in the words of its creators, “a tiny piece of hardware with the curious personality of a cybernetic dolphin”. Inside, it is equipped with various sensors to intercept and replicate different signals. For example, the infrared air conditioning or the TV remote control. Gaytán explains that it is enough to press a button to read infrared signals and then turn on the television. “The device captures this signal, saves it and can then replicate it. In doing so, if the tv is on, it turns off and, if it is off, it turns on”, he affirms.
Edgar Pons Fornindustrial design engineer, biohacker and technological disseminator in social networks, always carry a Flipper Zero with him. Although he rarely uses it, he feels good knowing that he has in his backpack “a technological Swiss army knife” with the ability to read and emulate signals. When she got the device, which often out of stockspent a couple of weeks trying to read all kinds of signs, keys, appliances and cards.
Part of the success of Flipper Zero is precisely due to the fact that it combines several functionalities that can be found separately in other devices. For example, it can analyze radio frequency signals, such as those emitted by car keys, garage door openers, and alarm systems, among other wireless devices. It is also capable of reading cards that use RFID and NFC technologies —such as credit or hotel cards or gym bracelets— and can sometimes replicate them.
Videos recorded to go viral
In fact, TikTok is full of videos in which Flipper Zero is supposedly used to replicate credit cards, open cars either unlock mobile in a matter of seconds. Pons is convinced that many “go viral by showing false or highly prepared information.” “It’s not as easy as it appears at all,” he says. EL PAÍS has contacted the creators of Flipper Zero to ask them if they consider that these recordings reflect reality, but for the moment they have not received any answers in this regard.
Although Flipper Zero can interact with some systems used in credit or access cards, Pons indicates that most have very advanced security measures that prevent their duplication. “Bank cards have encryption and authentication systems that protect transactions and prevent misuse, they can be read but cannot be emulated,” he says. As he explains, it is much easier to get someone’s data through the hack from your computer or physical theft than with Flipper Zero.
He is not the only one who considers that many videos are recorded to attract visits and do not represent reality. It is the case of Joseph Albors, research and awareness director of the cybersecurity company ESET in Spain: “Card cloning only works for very old versions that are practically out of use and remote opening of cars is only possible on old models.” Today’s remote controls “use unique codes every time, and even for older cars, specific conditions are required to clone the remote control signal.”
TO Alex Kulagin already Pavel Zhovner They came up with the idea of creating Flipper Zero in 2019 so that anyone could interact with the devices around them without much prior knowledge. They began to raise funds on the global crowdfunding platform Kickstarter and to this day they have already sold more than 150,000 devices, according to the American portal Wired. “Of course, if you don’t have much idea, you will only turn your television on and off or control the fan,” says Pons, who indicates that some of its advanced functions require additional technical skills or knowledge of cybersecurity or programming.
Albors believes that the device has become fashionable because certain content creators and influencers They have bluffed their chances. “This has made many users think that they have a master key at their fingertips when, in reality, without knowledge and without knowing what their real possibilities are, they only have an expensive toy to use a few times before ending up stored in a drawer,” he adds.
Is Flipper Zero a threat?
In Brazil, the National Telecommunications Agency (ANATEL) has seized some shipments of Flipper Zero, according to Several affected users have In Internet. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) indicates that this organization has not certified the device considering that it has illegal purposes and facilitates crimes. For Marc Rivero, security researcher at the cybersecurity company Kaspersky, banning devices is not the best solution. “Clear regulations must be established for its use and users must be educated to use it ethically and responsibly,” says the expert, who believes that the device has also “gained a fan base thanks to its retro and programmable design.” .
More powerful standalone tools have existed for decades, as Candid Wüest, vice president of cyber protection research at Acronis and adviser to the Swiss federal government on cybersecurity risks. “The tool itself is not the main problem, but that the weak systems continue to exist. It’s like trying to ban a password cracking tool to protect people who keep using 123456 as a password.”
William BudingtonEFF staff technologist doesn’t see the device as a threat: “Laws against hacking already exist and we should let them do their job instead of limiting access to tools like Flipper Zero.” Both he and Albors stress that the device could be used to test the security of systems. “Ban the tools of hacking it does not solve the problem, but rather aggravates it, since it prevents researchers from alerting us to possible security flaws that can later be exploited”, says Albors. In the end, everything depends on the use that is given to the device, which Gaytán compares to a knife: “With it you can make the most delicious food that human beings have ever tasted or you can kill someone. And that is the responsibility of the user.
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