Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

(github.com)

46 points | by trueduke 2 days ago ago

24 comments

  • weli an hour ago

    This is pretty dangerous. At least in my country the displayed price must be honored and they cannot refuse the sale.

    • rickdeckard an hour ago

      Usually the advertised price must be honored, because it may have brought the customer to your store.

      For prices displayed on the shelf-label inside the store the law is usually not that strict (YMMV), as a shop-owner can refuse sale on check-out (otherwise I could put a pricetag on e.g. a shopping-basket and the shop-owner would be legally required to sell me the basket...).

      Besides, most shops I've seen (in Europe) already moved from Infrared communication to RF (NFC or proprietary), for centralized shelf-label management without handheld devices. So all this study (and the underlying reverse engineering of the IR-protocol) might do is probably accelerate the transition from IR to RF-based ESL...

      • rimunroe 6 minutes ago

        > Usually the advertised price must be honored, because it may have brought the customer to your store.

        This is not the case for groceries in Massachusetts at least. If there’s a discrepancy between the tag’s price and the scanned price the store must charge the customer the lowest of the two: https://www.mass.gov/price-accuracy-information

      • master-lincoln 6 minutes ago

        How is the transport medium changing anything?

        To me this is about having protocols that are suitable so not anybody can write to these labels without knowing a store secret or using replay attacks.

    • dewey 12 minutes ago

      Probably mostly dangerous for the user, or are people routinely writing their own price signs in the store and then "buying" it for less? Walking up to the lot at the car store and crossing out some zeros? Don't see how this would be any different.

      • ModernMech 7 minutes ago

        What they do is swap bar codes, or they code organic fruit as regular, or they "forget" to scan in the self checkout, but yes.

        • dewey 3 minutes ago

          So it's just stealing with extra steps.

    • gus_massa 40 minutes ago

      I guess they can use the cameras to show you were tampering with the labels and call the police. Somewhat related xkcd https://xkcd.com/1494/

  • stavros 2 hours ago

    I am overjoyed to see this story here, we haven't gotten a lot of these hacks lately. Well done!

    • encom an hour ago

      Hacks? In my Hacker News? The nerve!

      • _joel 22 minutes ago

        Are these hacks or cracks. I'd say the latter.

  • voidUpdate 2 hours ago

    I still don't think I've seen an actually useful application for a Flipper Zero. It's all just "use this to change store price tags" or "here's how to disconnect all bluetooth devices", but also "don't actually use this, because it would be illegal, this is just for educational purposes"

    • rickdeckard 2 hours ago

      Beside of how the media often tries to present it, the value of Flipper Zero is not for everyone to "become a hacker with this simple app".

      Its value is to provide a standardized hardware platform for (white hat) hackers for probing, prototyping, refining and sharing of security research in the fields its hardware supports (Sub-GHz RF, NFC, IR, and custom external boards via simple Input/Output pins).

      Prior to that, everyone who wanted to research e.g. RF security had to either build/assemble something custom or buy much more expensive equipment. This created a barrier to collaborate on research, as everyone had to buy/build the same setup.

      On top of that, Person A researching some RF topic selected an RF-transceiver from Company X, Person B used a component and a proprietary SDK of Company Y, so consolidating both work streams for a better foundation for all RF-related research required alot of time and effort from someone, breaking workflows of at least one group of researchers, etc.

      In contrast, security research which utilizes Flipper Zero can be reproduced and built upon by everyone. All the work is harmonized on the same Hardware architecture, so it's easy for someone familiar with the platform to dive straight into a new idea without having to build a new breadboard, select a chipset, buy additional probing equipment etc.

      • kotaKat an hour ago

        I'm tired of the "security research" angle when it's all just kids playing with ESP32 deauther attacks presented to them on a silver platter.

        I should not have to put up with children going "JUST SECURE YOUR NETWORKS BRO" because they spent $30 on some eBay "maurauder" dongle to be a pissant.

        • lan321 44 minutes ago

          It's probably good to have kids with no big plans messing with your security now and then. Keeps you on your toes, and you can't really pass it off as an act of god if a teenager pwns you.

        • rft 29 minutes ago

          And a minority of those kids will get curious about the How and Why. Those are the security nerds of the future securing the networks against both the kids they were themselves and actual malicious actors.

          Source: Early interest in wifi security, including in other people's networks, lead me down an education and career in security

        • gausswho 13 minutes ago

          Hacker News. Where you either die a pissant or become the villain with a fistful of RSUs.

        • StingyJelly an hour ago

          just secure your networks bro

    • OuterVale an hour ago

      I use mine for all sorts. I volunteer at a second-hand shop so use it to set up remotes for donated media devices, I've used it to run scripts to apply the same changes to many computers that aren't on a group policy via BadUSB, I've used it for toys-to-life games, and very much more. There are plenty of genuine uses if you're cluey.

    • rjh29 2 hours ago

      Turns out it's what they said it was all along, an educational device.

    • avian 2 hours ago

      This one provides the source and asks you to build it yourself so at least it has some credibility for the "education use only" claim.

      I've seen similar things posted on here before that had a binary build only and zero technical documentation. It was really hard to see any kind of research or education value in those.

    • imp0cat an hour ago

      It's a russian device, what exactly did you expect?

      • master-lincoln 2 minutes ago

        As if devices created in Russia would all be "useless" or only for illegal purposes.

        I smell prejudice

    • cucumber3732842 2 hours ago

      It's useful for dealing with the industrial equivalent of IOT garbage