DEF CON 32 Activities

A variety of aviation infrastructure has been compromised by hackers. Immerse yourself into challenges where you are tasked as an aviation cyber defense participant to identify attacks/attackers, stop attacks, and restore normal operations. As a participant your first step is to register ahead and read the rules at: https://aisac.cyberskyline.com/events/aisac-defcon and bring your own laptop to the venue. You can participate in the virtual challenges from Friday, but the more critical in-person challenges are only available at certain times during Village open hours!

The AMSAT Ground Control and CubeSat simulator emulates how satellite communications are used. Ground control communicates via UHF to the cubesat.

Bricks in the Air is a hands-on demo to teach the basics of low level protocols seen in aviation. The demo uses the I2C protocol and does not reveal actual security vulnerabilities in avionics or other systems in aviation.

Attendees are not required to have any prerequisite knowledge. No equipment is needed for attendees.

ARINC 664 is an extension to IP networking that adds deterministic QoS for Aircraft Systems over Ethernet. Sit down and learn about how the extensions to 802.3 is used on aircraft, how that flight critical data is transferred in a timely matter, and how to manipulate the data on these networks. This progressive difficulty CTF provides a fun and informative way of approaching ARINC 664 networking.

Difficulty Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Required Equipment: Laptop

Prize: A Challenge Coin

Launch into the thrilling world of cybersecurity, specifically designed for space systems! Learn the fundamentals to safeguard ground stations, communication links, and spacecrafts.

Engage in an immersive and fun CTF scenario. Apply your cybersecurity skills in real-time and see the direct impact of your decisions on our Space Systems Demonstrator. In this high-stakes scenario, you'll align with the Aurora Alliance in their critical mission to thwart Count Viktor Thunderclaw and the notorious Nebula Syndicate. The Syndicate threatens to destroy historic monuments around the world with their Space Laser unless their demands are met. Do you have what it takes to dismantle their malevolent plans?

Our beginner-level CTF kicks off as soon as the village opens—no pre-registration necessary. Just bring your laptop to access the CTF platform and your favorite packet decoding software (i.e. Wireshark). Expect the CTF to take you less than 1 hour to complete. Team collaboration is encouraged, and if you encounter obstacles, numerous hints are available to guide you. Excel in the challenge, and you could walk away with a CT Cubed SAO, an exclusive prize while supplies last.

The Space Grand Challenge (SGC) Program is a free virtual game-based cybersecurity/space competition CTF for middle and high school students built by Cal Poly students—Learn by Doing in action. The game is built on the UNITY gaming engine.

Come take a picture with a CubeSat. And while you're there, learn a few things about it.

Dive into our interactive choose-your-own-adventure web interface and learn how to hack a drone in a fun, storyboard-based game. This graphical user interface simulates the process we use when hacking drones for the Air Force, allowing participants to make decisions and see the outcomes. It's a beginner-friendly activity that anyone can enjoy, offering insight into the steps involved in drone penetration testing.

Equipment: None required, but participants can access it from their own computers if they bring one.

Join our Drone Hacking Activity and get hands-on experience with hacking into drone microcontrollers. This three-step in-depth activity is designed to teach you about the vulnerabilities and security of autonomous systems. Using sample drones, participants will learn techniques used in government pen tests. This workshop is suitable for all skill levels, from beginners to advanced hackers. Come and test your skills in a real-world scenario and understand the intricacies of drone security.

Equipment needed: Personal laptop capable of running a Linux distribution

Prizes: Aerospace Village coins for the best times achieved by advanced participants

Put your drone hacking skills to the test in our Drone CTF. This advanced challenge requires participants to take over a drone mid-flight and develop a payload to hack a DJI drone. This CTF is perfect for those who have some experience in drone hacking or have participated in our Drone Hacking Workshop. It's a great opportunity to showcase your technical prowess and win some cool prizes.

Equipment needed: Personal laptop capable of running command-line interfaces.

Prize: Aerospace Village coins for successful completion

Experience the thrill of flying a drone in our custom-built cage right on the showroom floor. This activity is designed for everyone to enjoy, from kids to adults. Fly mini drones around the cage and see how well you can control these agile little machines. It's a fun, interactive way to learn the basics of drone piloting in a safe environment.

Want to know what happened to the Hack-A-Sat digital twins? We're bringing back our satellites and ground stations so you can see what it was like to be a team operating during finals!

Establish uplink using a ground station. Send commands to the satellite, observe effects and telemetry. 3D Cesium visualization of satellite in orbit and ground station locations. Grafana dashboards for sim data, etc. OpenC3 satellite operator interface for C2

Enjoy some space math nostalgia with challenges from the past four years of Hack-A-Sat quals! Challenges require skills in astrodynamics, satellite operations, digital signal processing, reverse engineering, exploitation, and more! If you missed the last Hack-A-Sat qualifiers or just want to try again, now is your chance!

10 challenges are available with a mix of difficulty. These will be available throughout all of DEF CON so work on them anywhere (even your hotel room). No team required and no scoreboard...so no pressure!

Challenge developers will be available for hints/clues on the conference floor but may not be able to help with every challenge.

Use spacestudio software to work through multiple challenges and scenarios. For instance:
Challenge 1: Analysis of the performance of the next GEN of satellites to size the ground segment.
Challenge 2: Assessment of propulsion system capabilities for initial orbit raising

Challenges for spacetower flight dynamic software will also be available.

You are a new to the Airport IT staff at the IG International Airport Network Operations Center, working your first holiday travel weekend. It has been a busy day managing the network with the control tower reporting several small glitches.

No alerts have been raised in the network, and the glitches appeared to have been easily handled. While taking your last break of the day, you decide to take a short walk around the concourse to watch the sun set. Suddenly, your cell phone rings and the voice on the other end is a panicked Control Tower Operator. A short time earlier, the tower had observed the runway lights turn off, come back on, and are now randomly blinking. They also mentioned the Operator HMI (Human Machine Interface) controlling the Runway Lighting system is non-responsive and they are locked out of the Maintenance HMI to reboot the system. Time is critical – without the lights, the planes circling the airport cannot land. With limited fuel stores, the planes are unable to divert to another airport. You sit down at your terminal to pull up the maintenance manual and troubleshoot the problem only to discover you are locked out of your account. You are suddenly relieved that management would not let you deploy security updates to the network because they feared service interruptions may occur. Once you regain access to the system and have all the reference material available, you bring up the control logic for the runway lighting system on one screen and the HMIs on another and quickly realize this is not a normal system failure. An unknown hacker or hacker group has ceased and taken control of the system. They have manipulated the PLC’s (Programmable Logic Controller) and impacted the HMIs. Time is of the essence to restore operation to the Runway Lighting control system before the planes run out of fuel.

Collect the clues, solve the puzzles, show off your aerospace knowledge and technical skills to win a limited edition PCB badge.

Note: This activity is only on Friday, Aug 9th from 8:15am-10:30am and does not take place in the Aerospace Village. It will take place on Level 3 of the LVCC West Hall Terrace.

Join the Lonely Hackers Club for an extraordinary experience where we’ll use our ham radios to attempt communication with astronauts aboard the International Space Station!

Check out https://lonelyhackers.club/events/ for any updates.

Role play what would happen (or not happen) should a plane be maliciously targeted, or (like most) try and land a A320.

Can you spot suspicious items in packages? Try out your skills.