Having fun while testing the resistance of networks and other gadgets to a hack of your design? This is what Flipper Zero offers, a sort of Tamagotchi dolphin for hackers.
Have you always dreamed of a Tamagotchi that would feed on your digital intrusion attempts? Well, this is surely your lucky day. Pinball Zero can be described as a kind of ” Swiss army knife for pentesters and geeks, all in a Tamagotchi body! “, explain its creators, a collective of Russian hackers, on their site.
Pinball Zero, what is it?
Yes, you read that right: a Tamagotchi for hackers. The idea, as far-fetched as it may seem, is very real, and responds to a real need according to Alexander Kulagin, one of the co-founders of the project interviewed by Motherboard. He says that the idea came to him during a mission in a remote place, where he had to evaluate 4G networks without having the necessary equipment. ” Lots of bug hunters and white hats [des hackers éthiques, ndlr] Russians were interested, and absolutely wanted to find their next tool “, he explains.
The concept behind Flipper is to feed and interact with your dolphin using it to pentester connected devices: the more you use them, the more your dolphin grows. Pentests, or intrusion tests in French, are a way of verifying the security of certain devices, in particular their infrastructure. And in order to achieve these tests, hackers must have certain tools: this is where Flipper Zero comes in.
Flipper is equipped with a 433/868 MHz transceiver, a 125 kHz antenna, an infrared transmitter, a micro SD reader, an NFC terminal, and of course, Bluetooth. You can find all the technical details on the Flipper Zero website. Important detail: the Pinball Zeros can communicate with each other thanks to the 433 MHz frequency, which allows your dolphin to ” make cyber friends “. And yes.
Is Pinball Zero legal?
” The firmware does not allow access to prohibited practices, such as jamming or brute force attacks “, is it specified on the site. ” Pinball Zero should therefore be completely legal in all countries. However, as the software is open source, you can install other functions, or use firmware developed by other people. In these cases, you are the only legal responsible “. For example, if you are looking to disable a killer robot dog with a Pinball Zero, that will be your responsibility.
Amazon, official site: where can you buy the Pinball Zero in France and at what price?
Flipper Zero was born in crowdfunding and quickly became a victim of its success: all available models were sold during the launch of the Kickstarter campaign. However, production has not stopped: the marketing of the product has resumed on the brand’s website for 169 dollars, which is replenished rather often. In France, it is also available on Amazon with a significant additional cost: count 288 € for a Pinball Zero, in stock.
Note, however, that the little tool is enjoying some popularity on TikTok in 2023, with users having fun using it to make jokes, which led Amazon to remove the product from its site in the United States. For the moment, we have not seen this deletion on Amazon France. We can therefore always deactivate aggressive robots with the machine.
One last question remains: we don’t know if Flipper can, like the Tamagotchis, end up dying if he is not fed enough. We hope not.
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