DEF CON 2020 Wrap-Up: Hacking Phones, Cars and Satellites

Tens of researchers showcased their work last week at the DEF CON hacking conference. They presented research on hacking phones, cars, satellite communications, traffic lights, smart home devices, printers, and popular software services, among many others.


Here is a summary of some of the most interesting presentations from DEF CON 2020:


Hacking Samsung smartphones via Find My Mobile


A series of vulnerabilities affecting Samsung’s Find My Mobile could have been chained to track a phone, wipe it remotely and perform various other activities, according to cybersecurity company Char49. The flaws were patched by Samsung last year.


Vulnerabilities in Qualcomm chips expose over 1 billion devices to attacks


Check Point has identified hundreds of vulnerabilities that expose devices with Qualcomm Snapdragon chips to attacks. At least one billion devices are believed to be affected and while Qualcomm has developed patches, it’s now up to OEMs to distribute them to end-users.



Vulnerabilities exposed thousands of HDL smart home devices to remote attacks


Several vulnerabilities found by SentinelOne researchers in smart home products made by HDL could have been exploited to remotely hack thousands of impacted devices. The vendor released patches after being notified.


New techniques for bypassing biometric systems


Yamila Levalle from Dreamlab Technologies has demonstrated some new techniques for bypassing biometric systems, particularly fingerprint scanners, using 3D printing.

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