[defparam]

I too disagree with the Canada ban, however I think the regulators are more concerned with how easy this can be done with a flipper zero. The moment you took out a soldering iron to build an antenna filter you've increased the complexity to the point where the regulators are no longer concerned. Yes this is still very dumb imho.

[multimoon]

It’s typical politician shortsightedness, as there will just be another product that arises.

Banning one of the many specific parts to do an illegal thing rarely ever makes the illegal thing harder to do.

[iknowbettah]

attack complexity is weird and often flawed, e.g. you think attackers need advanced hardware, but then someone does it woth a MCDonalds Toy. Same for software stuff.

[kkielhofner]

You can steal many Kia and Hyundai cars on the road with a USB cable[0] that doesn't even involve electronics. It just so happens the physical shape of the USB plug fits well over the ignition tumbler. As the article points out many cars will have a USB A cable in them already and at that point all you need is a rock to break a window (or just open an unlocked door).

Many jurisdictions have laws against carrying theft or burglary tools[1] and needless to say walking around with a USB cable is innocuous enough to be hard to apply these existing laws to. In many instances these are only used to apply an additional charge to suspects that have already been caught for theft or burglary.

[0] - https://www.thedrive.com/news/how-thieves-are-stealing-hyund...

[1] - http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Displ...

[repelsteeltje]

Sure a soldering iron raises the bar. Sure Flipper Zero lowers it considerably.

But Canada is fighting a lost cause to strengthen "security through obscurity".

[yifanl]

To be clear, modern society as we define it functions largely through "security through obscurity", considering that anybody with a sledgehammer can break into your property.

[kkielhofner]

Upvoted and completely agree.

Bans of Flipper Zero are ridiculous but Flipper should have run this by a "lay person" (sales, PR, marketing, an intern). Stripping a wire, showing a schematic with a diode and resistor, winding wires, soldering iron, etc just further proves the point of the regulators.

Meanwhile in the beginning of the video they show decoding the signal with the pocket-sized Flipper Zero with the push of a button in a few seconds. Easy, portable, easily concealable.

Ordering a $20 SDR from Amazon, plugging it in (even an Android phone), and clicking/tapping around in one of the many SDR GUI programs available would have demonstrated:

1) This functionality isn't limited to the Flipper Zero and has been around for years.

2) It's still "plug and play" and relatively low skill level.

3) It's actually cheaper and uses a device everyone already has in their pocket.

They shot themselves in the foot with this and only gave regulators more ammunition to call for bans.

They seem to have combined a sales/marketing video for Flipper Zero with a PR video for regulators.

Frankly it's incredibly stupid on their part.

[jrochkind1]

I follow you, but the use case they mentioned to propose the ban is stealing cars. I'd figure a car theft ring is sufficiently motivated to figure out how to solder.

[kkielhofner]

A car theft ring sophisticated enough to solder is going to realize several things:

1) Flipper Zero = almost no effort and instant.

2) Cheap and plentiful USB SDR = slightly more effort, longer range, higher signal integrity, faster, works with anything that can do host USB.

3) Using a headphone jack and requiring some amount of electronics expertise for what is in the end going to be a very short range and cumbersome tool that requires a 3.5mm jack that isn't even present on many/most modern devices is practically a non-starter.

This is basically a sales and marketing video for car theft rings.

[Rygian]

Does that mean that the circuit won't work if I join the wires without solder?

[hkwerf]

Most likely, it will work. You may need a few tries in case the connections aren't super tight. And it may stop working rather quickly due to corrosion of the contact surfaces.

However, in particular in headphone cables, the wires are often isolated using coating, which is hard to remove without applying q significant amount of heat.