My evil plot began by making small but seemingly helpful contributions to the GoodFET project, a line of code here, a simple add-on board there. Soon I was answering the occasional question on IRC or the mailing list, and I was in: commit rights!
I had chosen my prey carefully. GoodFET, the preferred open source tool of discriminating hardware hackers around the world, consisted of too many disparate hardware designs. It was full of terrific ideas and PoCs, but it was becoming unmaintainable. The Facedancer variant alone had at least three different and incompatible code bases! The hardware designs were easy to build one at a time but needlessly costly for volume manufacturing. The project was ripe for a takeover.
I struck when Travis Goodspeed was most vulnerable, his faculties diminished by the hordes of Las Vegas. He accepted my $5. GoodFET was mine!
With GoodFET in my control I moved quickly to replace the entire project with something superior, something greater! Today I unleash GreatFET!
Michael Ossmann is a wireless security researcher who makes hardware forhackers. Best known for the open source HackRF, Ubertooth, and Daishoprojects, he founded Great Scott Gadgets in an effort to put exciting, newtools into the hands of innovative people.