Using some scripting wizardry and a Lulzbot Mini, PrintedSolid’s David Randolph shows us how to crack a 4-digit PIN in the most over the top way.

Yeah we’ll admit it, this is wholly unnecessary. There are more efficient ways to crack a 4 digit PIN, rather than wasting electricity and time rigging a 3D printer to do it.

But in the day and age of 3D printed energy drinks and 6,000-piece printed Rubik’s cubes, why not indulge in a little more 3D printing-fueled fun to kick off your week.

As a guest on Hak5‘s YouTube show, David Randolph of printing supplies store PrintedSolid describes how he set up a Lulzbot Mini 3D printer to input the thousands of possible PIN combinations to unlock a smartphone.

If you prefer your explanations less authored, check out the video below. If not a lesson in Black Hat best practice, it is at least a fascinating explanation of Gcode and what it does to compel your 3D printer.

The 3D Printer Autodialler

Randolph and host Darren Kitchen both jokingly set up this code-breaking system as ideal for unattended data centers with already lax security. Jokes aside, this Lulzbot Mini driven brute forcing machine could get in to any four digit PIN protected keypad in just five days, at most.

To achieve this (not-so) clandestine feat, Randolph uses a physical keypad, a Raspberry Pi, a laptop, and a 3D printer. With the keypad positioned on the printer’s print bed, a python script generates Gcode commands, prompting the printer to attempt every possible four-digit combination.

There are 10,000 possible combinations in a four-digit PIN number. Lowering and raising the print head to press each button on the keypad, the printer will eventually happen across the correct code.

It’s an educational and fun-spirited project — just the way we like ’em.

Source: Hackaday