Diabolic Drive is a penetration testing USB key with 64GB storage, ESP8266 and ATmega32U4 microcontrollers

Diabolic Drive

Diabolic Drive may look like a 64GB USB flash drive and show as such when you insert it into your computer, but it’s actually a wireless keystroke injection tool with a Microchip ATmega32U4 8-bit AVR microcontroller and an Espressif Systems ESP8266 WiFi SoC. Egypt-based UNIT 72784 says their cyber security tool enables Red Teaming – the practice of rigorously identifying an attack path to breach a device’s security – as it behaves like a flash drive while being able to deploy keyboard strokes wirelessly through the ESP8266 WiFi MCU. Diabolic Drive specifications: MCUs Microchip ATmega32U4 microcontroller @ 16 MHz (5V) acting as a Serial Bridge Espressif Systems ESP8266EX microcontroller @ 160 MHZ (3.3V) with WiFi 4 support ATmega32U4 and ESP8266 are connected via Serial and I2C protocols thanks to an LDO regulator. Storage 64 GB flash storage up to 20MB/s read, 10MB/s write 4MB W25Q32 SPI flash memory o Antenna […]

NEWRACOM NRC7394 WiFi HaLow SoC delivers higher power efficiency and cost-effectiveness

Low cost WiFi Halow SoC

NEWRACOM has just introduced the NRC7394 Wi-Fi HaLow Arm Cortex-M3 SoC with higher power efficiency and lower cost than the previous generation NRC7292 Cortex-M3/M0 HaLow SoC and available in a 6x6mm package. I first wrote about the 802.11ah standard in 2014. Also known as the WiFi HaLow (consumers name), it operates in the 900 MHz band, offers a longer range and lower power consumption for items like IP cameras, and the first products came to market in 2021. I was expecting a flood of new WiFi HaLow devices in 2022 in my year 2021 round-up and it was not exactly a prescient prediction as it never happened. But maybe the new NRC7394 SoC will help make WiFi HaLow devices more popular by lowering the costs and further improving battery life. NEWRACOM NRC7394 key features: CPU – Arm Cortex-M3 core @ 32 MHz for IEEE 802.11ah WLAN and application Connectivity Full […]

Silicon Labs FG28 Sub-GHz wireless and 2.4 GHz BLE SoC supports Amazon Sidewalk, Wi-SUN, etc…

Silicon Labs FG28 block diagram

Silicon Labs dual-band FG28 Cortex-M33 SoC comes with sub-Gigahertz and 2.4 GHz Bluetooth LE radios that support long-range networks and protocols like Amazon Sidewalk, Wi-SUN, and other proprietary protocols, as well as a built-in AI/ML accelerator for machine learning inference and SiLabs Secure Vault technology. The chip looks to be an update to the sub-GHz FG25 Cortex-M33 microcontroller with an additional 2.4 GHz BLE radio, but somehow less program memory (up to 256KB) and storage (up to 1024 KB). The peripherals implemented in the chip are almost the same, as the microcontroller gains support for predictive maintenance with a small matrix vector processor for AI/ML acceleration. Silicon Labs FG28 (EFR32FG28) specifications: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M33 @ 78 MHz with DSP instructions and FPU On-chip memory – Up to 256 kB RAM data memory On-chip storage – Up to 1024 kB flash program memory AI accelerator – Matrix Vector Processor […]

Reolink E1 Outdoor Pro 4K smart security camera supports WiFi 6 connectivity

WiFi 6 security camera

Reolink E1 Outdoor Pro is a 4K smart security camera with PTZ and auto-tracking like the Reolink TrackMix, but instead of relying on PoE or WiFi 4/5, the camera comes with WiFi 6 connectivity for a faster and more stable network connection with less latency. Most of the WiFi security cameras I’ve been using come with 2.4GHz WiFi 4, and I’ve found connectivity to the solar-powered Reolink security cameras I’ve been using to be somewhat unreliable with difficulty connecting to them through the mobile app, although uploads to the cloud don’t suffer from those issues. So I typically prefer PoE or 4G LTE security cameras since the connectivity is more stable, but Reolink E1 Outdoor Pro security camera’s WiFi 6 support could help depending on the environment. Reolink E1 Outdoor Pro specifications: Camera – 4K Ultra HD resolution with 3x optimal zoom Color night vision with spotlight PTZ – 355º […]

STMicro unveils STM32MP2 Arm Cortex-A35/M33 MPU family starting with STM32MP25

STM32MP25 block diagram

STMicro has introduced its second generation of its STM32 MPUs (microprocessors) with the STM32MP2 moving to a 64-bit Arm architecture with Edge AI acceleration, multimedia features, graphics processing, and digital connectivity targeting industrial and IoT edge applications. The new family follows the STM32MP1 Arm Cortex-A7/M4 series introduced in 2019, and the first member of the family is the STM32MP25 with up to two 1.5 GHz Cortex-A35 cores coupled with an Arm Cortex-M33 real-time core clocked at 400 MHz, a 3D GPU, and a 1.35 TOPS NPU for AI acceleration. STM32MP25 key features and specifications: CPU – Single or dual Arm Cortex-A35 cores running up to 1.5 GHz Real-time MCU – Arm Cortex-M33 core running up to 400 MHz GPU – Unnamed 3D GPU for “advanced HMI” with support for the Vulkan API VPU – H.264 hardware video decoder and encoder AI accelerator – 1.35 TOPS NPU (Neural processing unit) System […]

Linux 6.3 release – Notable changes, Arm, RISC-V and MIPS architectures

Linux 6.3 release

Linux Torvalds has just announced the release of Linux 6.3 on the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML): It’s been a calm release this time around, and the last week was really no different. So here we are, right on schedule, with the 6.3 release out and ready for your enjoyment. That doesn’t mean that something nasty couldn’t have been lurking all these weeks, of course, but let’s just take things at face value and hope it all means that everything is fine, and it really was a nice controlled release cycle. It happens. This also obviously means the merge window for 6.4 will open tomorrow. I already have two dozen pull requests waiting for me to start doing my pulls, and I appreciate it. I expect I’ll have even more when I wake up tomorrow. But in the meantime, let’s enjoy (and test) the 6.3 release. As always, the shortlog […]

How to setup a WireGuard server on Ubuntu for remote login

WireGuard Server Network Topology

In this article, we will show you how to set up a WireGuard server on Ubuntu in order to use it for remote login. Introduction to WireGuard First of all, let’s first understand, what is WireGuard? WireGuard is a very simple and fast VPN tool with state-of-the-art encryption. Its goal is to be faster, simpler, more streamlined, and easy to use than IPsec, while avoiding the hassle of large-scale configuration. WireGuard is designed as a general-purpose VPN to run on embedded interfaces and supercomputers in many different environments. Originally released for the Linux kernel, WireGuard is now widely deployed and supported across platforms (Windows, macOS, BSD, iOS, Android). WireGuard is growing rapidly and is already considered the most secure, easiest-to-use, and simplest VPN solution in the industry. Basic Concepts of WireGuard Several basic concepts are involved in WireGuard: Peer: A node in WireGuard. Private key: Each node has its own […]

Embedded Open Source Summit 2023 schedule – Zephyr OS, Security, IoT, Embedded Linux, and more

Embedded Open Source Summit 2023

The Linux Foundation has just announced the full schedule for the Embedded Open Source Summit, which will take place on June 27-30, 2023 in Prague, Czech Republic, as well as virtually starting on June 26. Over 175 sessions, birds of a feather (BoF) tracks, and workshops related to embedded and open-source innovation will be presented at the event itself comprised of six micro conferences: Automotive Linux Summit Europe, Embedded IoT Summit, Embedded Linux Conference, LF Energy Embedded Summit, Safety-Critical Software Summit, and Zephyr Project Developer Summit. Even though I’m not going to attend personally, I’ve gone through the schedule to create my own little virtual schedule with some sessions relevant that should be interesting to me and hopefully to CNX Software readers. Monday, June 26 (Virtual sessions) The first day of the event will have a Yocto Dev training in the morning, and a bunch of virtual sessions that are […]