Multi-communication type debugging probe

摘要

Embedded systems have been growing in ubiquity in recent years. It is expected that the dependence for devices with these systems will continue to grow as technology advances into the era of the Internet of Things (IoT). However, with more interconnectivity comes more vulnerability. If an attacker were to gain access to a single device in a system of interconnected devices, they could obtain a lot more information since they have several devices to listen to. In this paper, we address the relevance of commercial debuggers and how they allow penetration tests and reverse engineering [1] on embedded systems. These debuggers require the testers to be very familiar with the device to be tested. Some of the information the tester needs to have include the type of processor being used on the device, the type of protocol implemented and the pin-out of the transmission lines. We propose a design for a probe that would not be restricted to a specific processor or prior knowledge of the target device pin-out. Instead, our probe will eliminate the time spent on active probing in order to locate the appropriate communication lines. We were able to design and build a prototype which has been able to locate transmission lines on a RS-232 protocol.