Hacktivity 2018 · Hungary · 2018

Hacktivity 2018 Badge

USB-serial hardware-hacking CTF badge

A Hacktivity conference badge with USB mini connectivity, FT232R/FT232RL USB UART discovery, a cross-platform 9600 baud serial workflow, boot-time CTF app, UART jumper path to a root shell, and optional RF-module soldering notes.

Hacktivity Hungary USB Serial FT232R CTF Hardware RE RF UART Root Shell

EventHacktivity 2018

SeriesHacktivity

LocationBudapest

CountryHungary

People

Authors & Credits

Hacktivity 2018 badge guide author

Z

The original Blogspot page is posted by Z; the current mirror preserves the guide in the Jump ESP, jump! archive.

Source

badge and contest developer

Attila Marosi-Bauer

Thanked in the guide for developing the badge and contests.

Source

badge and contest development

Hackerspace Budapest

Thanked in the guide for developing the badge and contests.

Source

Why It Mattered

Hacktivity 2018 adds Hungary to the European badge map with a badge that explicitly taught hardware reverse engineering, RF hacking, crypto-protection exercises, serial-console basics, physical jumper exploration, and beginner-friendly serial setup across Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Hardware

The public guide documents the badge as a 2018 Hacktivity hardware badge reached through a bottom-left USB mini connector, exposed as an FT232R USB UART device, with an amber LED, Omega shield, UART1/UART0 jumpers, and RF-module wiring notes for GPIO19 and RX1.

Software & Apps

The badge guide documents a boot-time CTF app reachable over serial at 9600 baud after roughly 90 seconds, 8n1 terminal assumptions, Linux/macOS/Windows discovery paths, a separate 115200 baud root-shell path through UART0 jumper changes, and challenge categories for visual hardware debugging, reverse engineering, RF hacking, and crypto protection.

Lore

The guide frames the badge as a beginner-friendly on-ramp to conference badge hacking: plug in USB, find the serial port, race the boot sequence, explore the CTF, then discover that moving hardware jumpers can change the security boundary. The guide now also survives as a migrated mirror after the old Blogspot-era link path became fragile.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

challenge software historical

Serial CTF console

The guide documents a serial CTF menu with visual hardware debugging, reverse engineering, RF hacking, and crypto protection categories.

Compatibility: Hacktivity 2018 Badge

Source

hardware debug workflow historical

UART0 root-shell debug path

After removing the Omega shield and moving the jumpers from UART1 to UART0, the guide documents reconnecting at 115200 baud to see boot debug output and reach a root prompt.

Compatibility: Hacktivity 2018 Badge

Source

hardware expansion note documented solder option

RF module wiring path

The guide documents slow RF signal processing on GPIO19 and a faster-data wiring path from RF module DATA OUT to RX1.

Compatibility: Hacktivity 2018 Badge

Source

setup workflow historical

Cross-platform serial onboarding

The guide walks Linux users through dmesg and ttyUSB0, macOS users through ioreg/system_profiler and tty.usbserial, and Windows users through COM-port discovery before connecting at 9600 baud.

Compatibility: Hacktivity 2018 Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

boot timing caveat note

The guide says the badge sends its interesting serial output during boot and users may see nothing if they connect too late; it estimates about 90 seconds before the OS and CTF app finish booting.

This captures a practical beginner trap: the badge worked, but the serial workflow depended on reconnect timing and terminal setup.

Confidence: public badge guide
Status: historical
Timeframe: serial setup
Source note: Jump ESP, jump! badge guide and migrated mirror.

hardware privilege boundary note

Moving jumpers from UART1 to UART0 exposed a 115200 baud root-shell path after reconnecting the Omega shield.

For a learning badge this is useful lore rather than a production vulnerability: it shows how physical access and debug interfaces were deliberately part of the challenge surface.

Confidence: public badge guide
Status: historical
Timeframe: badge hacking workflow
Source note: Jump ESP, jump! badge guide.

missing rights-cleared image note

No Hacktivity 2018 Badge image is published because the current public source trail has not been paired with a reusable original badge or artifact photo or official upstream raster render with source URL, license or permission basis, attribution, and processing notes.

The Hungary record remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying source-page media, documentation screenshots, event photos, social media, placeholders, or generated approximations.

Confidence: local project policy
Status: needs licensed original replacement
Timeframe: current catalogue build
Source note: badge.gallery image policy and Hacktivity 2018 badge source trail.

source-depth caveat note

The badge guide and migrated mirror are strong for hacking workflow and credits, but no public design-file repository has been seeded yet for a full bill of materials or firmware-history record.

The dossier intentionally avoids unsupported MCU/module claims beyond the public USB UART, Omega shield, jumpers, CTF, and RF wiring notes.

Confidence: detailed guide, mirror, and event archive
Status: needs repository or team-page recovery
Timeframe: post-event documentation
Source note: Jump ESP, jump! badge guide, migrated mirror, and Hacktivity event archive.

Resources

Hackerspace Budapest team context · Developer credit target linked from the badge guide. Hacktivity event site · Current public Hacktivity event site for lineage context. Hacktivity 2018 badge guide mirror badge guide mirror · Current migrated copy of the Jump ESP, jump! guide, useful if the older Blogspot URL disappears. Hacktivity 2018 badge quick-start guide badge guide · Public hardware-hacking guide for USB serial setup, CTF menu, UART jumpers, RF wiring, and credits. Hacktivity 2018 event archive event page · Hungarian event archive entry for Hacktivity 2018. Jump ESP, jump! current site author/site context · Current site index explaining the migration away from Google-hosted blog posts and preserving the Hacktivity badge guide in the archive.

Sources

Jump ESP, jump!: Hacktivity 2018 badge - quick start guide for beginners Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary source for USB mini setup, FT232R USB UART, serial baud rates, CTF categories, UART jumper root shell, RF notes, and named credits. Jump ESP, jump! migrated mirror: Hacktivity 2018 badge - quick start guide for beginners Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Current mirror of the guide preserving FT232R/FT232RL, 9600 baud CTF, 115200 baud root shell, 90-second boot timing, and RF wiring details. NJSZT Informatikatörténeti Fórum: HACKTIVITY 2018 Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Event archive context for Hacktivity 2018. Zoltan Balazs current site: Jump ESP, jump! Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Site index documenting the move away from Blogspot and linking the Hacktivity 2018 badge guide in the current archive.