3 HACKING gadgets you have to TRY!!

About this video

NetworkChuck builds three Raspberry Pi hacking gadgets. First, a Pi Zero W (he says he paid about $40 for his) becomes a ‘bad USB’ using PwnPi ALOA (‘A Little Offensive Appliance’), the successor to the older PwnPi project: flashed to a 32 GB microSD card with Raspberry Pi Imager, it plugs into a target computer, impersonates a keyboard/mouse/ethernet device, broadcasts its own WiFi network, and is controlled remotely through a web GUI where HID scripts (JavaScript-based, with DuckyScript payload import) can wiggle a mouse, rickroll, or run more serious payloads he lists like capturing logins and PowerShell reverse shells. Second, the same Pi Zero runs Pwnagotchi, a Tamagotchi-like tool that uses AI to tune itself to whatever WiFi environment it is exposed to; he pre-edits a config.toml on the boot drive to enable the web UI (reached via a USB RNDIS ethernet connection at a static IP), notes it gets smarter the longer it runs, and suggests carrying it on a USB power bank. Third, he simply installs Kali Linux on the Pi Zero via the imager. A bonus fourth project, PoisonTap, which promised to sniff traffic from a locked computer, failed despite hours of trying, and he is candid that it no longer works.

Key takeaways

• A bad USB works by impersonating trusted peripherals (keyboard, mouse, network adapter), so the host computer trusts its input — the PwnPi ALOA adds remote control over its own WiFi network and a browser GUI, unlike a fire-and-forget USB Rubber Ducky.
• Hardware is cheap by the creator’s account: about $40 for the Pi Zero W build, and he cites a two-pack of Pi Picos for about $14 as an even cheaper bad-USB route covered in an earlier video.
• Pwnagotchi needs its config.toml written before first boot to enable the web UI; without the optional e-ink screen (which needs soldered header pins on a Pi Zero WH) the web UI is the interface.
• Old projects are a real risk: PwnPi ALOA’s latest release dated to 2020 and PoisonTap (a 2016-era project) did not work at all in his testing, despite hours of troubleshooting.
• Kali Linux on a Pi Zero is the simplest project of the three — the imager offers it directly, including a PiTail variant that uses an Android phone as screen and controller.

Episode details: published March 10, 2023 · 19:34 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are NetworkChuck’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

← Previous: the most SECURE browser!! (testing it with malware) · Next: 30 Windows Commands you CAN’T live without →

All NetworkChuck videos · NetworkChuck profile · NetworkChuck on YouTube