Pretty much everyone in the cybersecurity business has heard of the Flipper Zero, but many security pros have never actually seen one.
Since not everyone has the time to get their hands on one, we did and are unboxing it in this quick 5-minute episode.
This surprisingly compact hardware can:
- Test RFID systems and vulnerabilities
- Check infrared device security
- Identify wireless protocol weaknesses
- Run custom security testing apps
If you’re defending networks, you need tools. This episode is the first in a series where we’ll give you a look at the tools you can use to fight the bad guys.
What’s Inside the Box
- The Flipper Zero device itself (with its adorable dolphin mascot)
- Stickers (including the all-important “Hacker” and “Pwned” stickers)
- Instruction manual in English
- USB cables
- SD card slot for apps and software updates
Key Features Explored
Hardware Capabilities
- Monochrome Screen: Sharp display for navigating menus and apps
- D-Pad Navigation: Simple button controls for easy operation
- GPIO Pins: Breadboard connections for testing electronic circuits and signals
- Infrared Port: Copy and replay IR signals (TVs, printers, and more)
- Multiple Radio Protocols: RFID, NFC, Sub-GHz, and more
- USB-C Connection: For charging and data transfer
- SD Card Slot: Expandable storage for apps and firmware
What Can It Do?
- Test RFID and NFC systems
- Clone and replay infrared signals
- Interact with Sub-GHz devices
- Test wireless security systems
- Run custom apps and scripts
- Play games (yes, including Asteroids!)
- And more
Important Reminder
As Joe and Adam emphasize in the episode, the Flipper Zero is a legitimate security testing tool meant to be used ethically and legally. It’s designed to help security professionals understand vulnerabilities in their own systems, not to compromise others’ security.
With great power comes great responsibility—use it for testing your own systems, understanding how security works, and maybe playing a few rounds of Asteroids.
📝 Full Episode Transcript ▼
Joe Patti (00:00) So, here we see the Flipper Zero comes in a box. That’s it.
Adam Roth (00:04) That’s really good because unboxing usually refers to the fact that it…
Joe Patti (00:12) Well, it’s good that it comes in a box and that it doesn’t come like, you know, wrapped in newspaper. It’s not something dodgy. This does come from a legitimate company as we were saying. Um, so that’s good.
Adam Roth (00:21) Is it really dodgy?
Joe Patti (00:22) Oh, no. I think people, but we get into that on the podcast. So, it comes in a proper box as you would expect.
Joe Patti (00:30) And let’s see what’s inside.
Adam Roth (00:33) Oh yeah, let’s go. Flipper zero.
Joe Patti (00:37) Oh, they start with some stickers. You got a hacker sticker.
Adam Roth (00:41) That’s hacker zone. That’s my certification.
Joe Patti (00:44) Put that on your forehead there. Okay.
Adam Roth 00:47) I will.
Joe Patti (00:48) Pwned.
Adam Roth (00:49) Oh, I dropped it.
Joe Patti (00:51) I hope that’s not a warning of what’s going to happen if you use this.
*Adam Roth (00:55) It might be. But uh that’s a clever sticker.
Joe Patti (00:57) Okay, what else do we have?
Joe Patti (01:01) We have a sticker version of the flipper if you want to confuse your friends. I guess you can put that on your Mac if you’re cool enough to have a Mac.
Adam Roth (01:12) Don’t even start, Joe. I’m damning you right now.
Joe Patti (01:15) Anyway,
Adam Roth (01:16) I don’t want a Mac.
Joe Patti (01:17) Well, if you got a Mac, I’m going to make you do all the editing on these.
Joe Patti (01:20) Okay. And then we have instructions in English, which is awesome. Okay. To the actual thing. Oh, and it has cables. Those are useful. Don’t lose those.
Adam Roth (01:33) And I’m always wondering, do you think it’s possible they might have use this cable to like, you know, get information, intercept, and everything else.
Joe Patti (01:41) You know, there’s stuff going around on the internet this week that the whole what is it? USB jacking or whatever is like fake. But I don’t know, juice. People are saying it’s overblown, whatever. But that’s not what we’re talking about. Now, we are here to look at the Flipper Zero. And there it is.
Joe Patti (01:58) Nice and white. It has that monochrome screen that looks sharp. Okay, there we are. Now we can see it. All right. Good. Oh, it’s got little uh I don’t know, scary characters on it. Okay. It has So, it’s got a button. It’s got a D-pad. It has there. Now, what is that? That is for plugging in like a
Adam Roth (02:18) That’s for a breadboard. You can put a breadboard in there and then put a separate boards and then you can do like crazy thingy.
Joe Patti (02:24) You know, it’s not just a radio. You can test like signals coming from electronic circuitry and devices, right?
Adam Roth (02:30) MR’s. MR’s.
Joe Patti (02:32) Go. That what was that there? Get Get back there.
Adam Roth (02:35) Oh, that wasn’t infrared.
Joe Patti (02:37) That’s the USB-C um
Adam Roth (02:39) Oh, I’m sorry. I can’t see glasses.
Joe Patti (02:44) Remote control.
Adam Roth (02:44) So, you can send pulsating stuff. Um you can turn on TVs, anything that has infrared, you can copy the signal and then replay about that. So, let’s say you go into let’s say you’re James Bond and you get into a place and you want to send like, you know, print jobs to a printer or send malware. Do you know that the Israelis actually used um uh drones to send malware to laser printers that had the infrared?
Joe Patti (03:09) If I knew that, I would not be able to talk about it. Uh so, there’s
Adam Roth (03:13) Well, we would have to kill you.
Joe Patti (03:14) There’s the USB-C again.
Joe Patti (03:16) Okay. And let’s see.
Adam Roth (03:17) And then, uh the SD card.
Joe Patti (03:18) You need an SD card. SD card because this does take you can put apps on it, software updates, etc.
Joe Patti (03:26) And there you go. You get a screen and you occasionally see the little um Dolphin flipper.
Joe Patti (03:34) It has a menu of all the different things you can do, all these different radios and app types.
Adam Roth (03:44) Oh yeah, you can go into I think speaker systems send stuff. You can open up Tesla car doors or at least at least the um at least the uh charging ports.
Joe Patti (03:56) Yay. In case you want to charge someone’s Tesla for them. All right.
Joe Patti (04:01) Okay. Well, there we go. Well, great. I am so glad I don’t have a Tesla and I don’t live in your neighborhood. We’d be in real trouble.
Adam Roth (04:10) Why are you saying I’m a bad guy? I’m not a big guy.
Joe Patti (04:12) Of course not. Well, yeah. I’m I’m sure you will be using this and you know having having some fun seeing what you can do and you know as we say in the podcast this is a legitimate tool to be used for good not for evil
Joe Patti (04:26) right it’s
Adam Roth (04:28) with with great power
Joe Patti (04:30) it is for testing and to understand your vulnerabilities and the systems that you have and how they work. It is not to do anything bad and to play video games.
Adam Roth (04:40) So all right
Adam Roth(04:42) look at that. Look, look, look.
Adam Roth (04:43) Asteroids.
Joe Patti (04:44) You know what? I paid for asteroids in the 80s. My god. Hope you all enjoyed this, Adam. Well done. And we may have more in the future. That’ll be a lot of fun.
Adam Roth (04:54) Wait, do I get to keep my job?
Joe Patti (04:56) Yes, you get to keep your job. You know what? You’re getting a raise, too. How does that sound?
Adam Roth (05:01) All right.
Joe Patti (05:02) All right. There we go. Okay. Thanks, everyone. Hope you enjoyed it.