2023-08-18 –, Hardware Hacking Village
Language: English
Reverse Engineering Toolkit [RET]: Unbinare is a small e-waste reverse engineering
laboratory. Our objective is to reduce the increase of e-waste by finding ways to
repurpose electronic waste. We have created a free and open hardware toolkit for the analysis and reverse engineering of discarded devices. This workshop will cover building the tools, how to use them and some tips on how to (safely) handle electronic waste.
At Unbinare, we believe an electronic device is not an object, but an environmental event. From the mining of ore to an electronic device ending up on a landfill, it is only a thing that exists as an object for a very short time; the device only retains its identity as an object when we purchase and use it. If we understand them to be environmental events, they are continued impediment to the well-being of ecosystems and wildlife everywhere. To change this situation, we need to reduce the increase of e-waste by finding ways to repurpose electronic waste. As we believe hackers can make a difference, we have created a free and open hardware toolkit for the analysis and reverse engineering of discarded devices. This workshop will cover building the tools, how to use them and some tips on how to (safely) handle electronic waste.
I will be handling a bit of the geopolitics that surround electronic waste, future projections of where waste streams will be headed and how this might affect the daily lives of ourselves and those who come after us. I will talk about about anarchist hacker environments have helped reframe the business practices the electronics industry sustains to protect their bottom line (planned obsolescence, the inability to repair, etc). My aim is to give everybody who participates enough information to hack and reverse engineer e-waste in a safe way so we will end up with more open firmware, add-ons and other uses for discarded electronics.
Maurits Fennis is an anarchist, hacker and reverse engineer. In 2020 he founded Unbinare, an e-waste reverse engineering laboratory which aims to reduce the increase of e-waste by finding ways to repurpose discarded electronic devices. For the past 10 years, Maurits has been a proponent of open science and FOSS software and hardware. Prior to founding Unbinare, Maurits has been an artist, composer, architectural designer, security consultant and hardware security researcher.