What is a Flipper Zero? Viral TikTok hacking tool explained

❘ Published: 2023-11-15T10:35:55

Flipper Zero

The popularity of the Flipper Zero has been fuelled by TikTok, but this tiny gadget can potentially cause a lot of harm, with the right knowledge.

The Flipper Zero is a cute-looking device, sporting a tiny monochrome display featuring graphics of an adorable dolphin. However looks are very much deceptive in this instance, as this device is a wizard at cybersecurity, able to help or harm depending on who gets hold of it.

According to the Kickstarter page where the Flipper Zero got its start, the device is: “Open source multi-tool device for researching and pen-testing radio protocols, access control systems, hardware, and more.”

In more accessible terms, it comes equipped with tools and sensors that can interact with RFID and NFC signals, copy keycards, or mimic radio signals. This enables it to hack its way into many devices.

The device has already been known to cause incidents such as the mass crashes and boot-looping of Apple devices, and a recent software update made it even more capable of hacking with a new range of apps.

With all this in mind, it is not a surprise that videos featuring the Flipper Zero have become all the rage on TikTok and other social media, with many users showing off its many functions to the audience.

What can the Flipper Zero do?

The Flipper Zero houses radio and wireless equipment that can fool around with screens or even a Tesla. Currently, Tesla’s charging hatch uses a particular frequency that isn’t usually available to those the general public. With this available through the Flipper Zero, it has led to pranksters causing havoc in parking lots.

It even has infrared, so you can point it and mess about with displays in stores. Don’t worry, it won’t be able to broadcast images on the screens themselves. You can only turn them off and on, or change a channel, like a TV remote.

Additionally, the Flipper Zero also has GPIO pins at the top of the device. General Purpose Input/Output pins are often found on microcontrollers and Raspberry Pis. These pins can take in external devices – like the Wi-Fi module – and be put to use alongside Flipper’s broad spectrum of tools.

One of the best things we’ve seen has to be the Amiibo emulator. All you need to do is press a button, and get an Amiibo bonus in your Switch games. That’s as long as you copy your physical Amiibo to the Flipper Zero first.

It’s mostly harmless

The security concern comes from a slightly misinformed place. They believe it could lead to people getting access to things that they normally wouldn’t be able to control. In reality, the majority of its functions can be replicated by a smartphone. On top of this, it requires a lot of effort in order to code to do those nefarious deeds. It’s all just a bit harmless, and a lot of fun. It can be used for those applications, but the majority of users won’t’ delve that deep.

https://www.tiktok.com/@actowise/video/7147141036396170542

When scanning credit cards, the device doesn’t store some essential information. You’ll only get the card’s long number, and the type of card. You couldn’t then use that data to pay for something, like Apple Pay, as it wouldn’t have the encryption data needed to make the transaction.

However, if you lost a fob, or your keys, you can easily use the device to replace it. This could potentially save you cash, as you can just store all your digital keys directly on the device. You can open all manner of gates and doors, as long as you clone the keys first.

Is the Flipper Zero dangerous?

The Flipper Zero is an amazing device and one that has been grossly misunderstood on social media. It’s for tinkering, accessing doors, and testing security. The device is aimed at geeks and hardcore red-team penetration testers. Only after putting in a lot of effort, will it do harm to the general public.

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