This project consists of the hardware and software necessary to hijack wired network communications. The hardware allows an attacker to splice into live network cabling without ever breaking the physical connection. This allows the traffic on the line to be passively tapped and examined. Once the attacker has gained enough knowledge about the data being sent, the device switches to an active tap topology, where data in both directions can be modified on the fly. Through our custom implementation of the network stack, we can accurately mimic the two devices across almost all OSI layers.
We have developed several applications for this technology. Most notable is the editing of live video streams to produce a “camera loop,” that is, hijacking the feed from an Ethernet surveillance camera so that the same footage repeats over and over again. More advanced video transformations can be applied if necessary. This attack can be executed and activated with practically no interruption in service, and when deactivated, is completely transparent.