Inside an otherwise unremarkable room in a Las Vegas hotel, a hacker group known as Ninja Networks has set up a mobile command center complete with ominous red lights and computer screens that allow the technologists to monitor every phone call on their network.
- The van that holds the Ninja-Tel phone network.
But don’t worry. This isn’t some sort of evil hacker plot.
It’s just part of an extremely elaborate party invitation for attendees at the annual DefCon hacking convention.
Just how elaborate is it?
The 650 invitations are actual cellphones. And they work only on a private, hacker-built mobile phone network housed inside a van.
“This is DefCon 20,” said Matt Lewis, a Ninja Networks member. “And 20 years ago, what were we doing? We were on the phone.” It’s a nod to an even earlier era, when the first hackers, known as “phone phreaks,” used audio tones to tinker with the phone networks.
There is a long tradition at DefCon of technically impressive conference badges and invitations: In 2010 the Ninja Networks party badge was a wireless gaming system that allowed attendees to compete against each other. But this year’s efforts take things to another level.
The lucky invitees will get a brand-new HTC phone in snappily designed Ninja-Tel packaging. There’s even a custom-printed Ninja-Tel SIM card. Invitees will get to choose their own phone numbers and can talk or text with other people on the Ninja-Tel network; address books are synced across devices and updated when new people sign up.
The phones can’t tie to regular cellular networks, and the Ninja-Tel network won’t accept regular phones. (Or at least that’s the case initially; it’s probably not wise to use the word “can’t” when you’re talking about a convention hall with thousands of hackers in it.)
The network only covers the Rio Hotel, which is hosting DefCon. But the phones also contain a few surprises.
The ninja game from the 2010 party is included. And one of the project’s sponsors, AllJoyn, contributed its technology, which allows phones to communicate based on proximity. The Ninja Networks team used this to rig a vending machine that will dispense sodas to nearby phones.
Ninja Networks even hired Pat Fleet, the woman whose voice has thanked millions of people for using AT&T over the years, and recorded her welcoming people to Ninja-Tel.
Perhaps most importantly, the phones are immediately hackable; people can easily open a screen that allows them to create their own apps on the phone itself.
The phones took about a month to put together, and the network itself took about 10 months to build.
“You can’t exactly get on the Internet and Google ‘How do I start a cellphone company,’” Lewis said. “You can’t just go on Amazon and buy a cellphone tower.”
And it’s not perfect. “If an engineer from Nokia was here, they’d laugh,” said Brandon Creighton, a member of the Ninja Networks team who helped get the network running. But cobbling things together is something many hackers love to do, so a makeshift cellphone network in a van is a pretty perfect symbol.
Lewis demurred when asked how much the effort cost. “It was a lot of sweat equity,” he said – but giving away hundreds of $400 phones isn’t cheap. The invitations and party are also being sponsored by Facebook, Zynga and Lookout Mobile Security.
The phones themselves will be hard to get: You have to know a Ninja and they have to think you’ve done something to contribute positively to the hacker community. But there are ways to wrangle an invitation to the party. Ninja Networks is providing entrance tokens to anyone at DefCon who donates blood to the Red Cross, signs up for the Be the Match bone-marrow donor program or donates to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
- The Ninja-Tel SIM card
- Inside the Ninja control room, otherwise known as a van
0 comments:
Post a Comment