Injecting EMP into Digital Devices

Architecture and Background

Injecting Electromagnetic Pulses into Digital Devices Paul F. Renda Data Security Analyst, Futurist This talk is not about someone on the ground firing a ray gun at a jet and bringing it down, this talk is about someone on the jet injecting EMP in the wiring system of the jet and causing great problems with the aviation systems and the black box. I will define smart and dumb digital devices based to how they respond to injected pulses. The talk will have at least 10 video demos of device pulses and a video of a surge protector.

Vulnerability Analysis

The Marx generator will be explained and a mosfet charging circuit. Going green, fly by wire airplanes, robotic control trains, densely integrated systems, these are all realities of our daily environment. One problem is that all of these make our life more susceptible to an EMP disruption. Other topics covered include TWA 800, Telsa coil, Byzantine faults and the power grid.

Exploitation and Demonstrations

Note : Contact me if you live in the northeast and have a pole pig I can rent for 2 hours. Paul F. Renda started his career working on IBM 360 and the PDP 11. He was an early advocate of using Hacking Software to check corporate data systems and has presented talks at the COMPUTER SECURITY INSTITUTE.

Remediation and Defensive Strategies

Paul's articles have appeared in the Info Security magazine. In 1995 Paul, developed a defense against WAR DIALERS. His process was published in Info Security Magazine. A dialer is a program that dials a series of phone number and logs number that are connected to a modem. He is currently a computer security analyst and futurist. For copies of the slides and additional materials please see the DEF CON 17 Archive here: