Security Experts Are Stunned As a 11 yr Old Indian Origin Boy Hacks Bluetooth Devices Using Raspberry Pi To Control Teddy Bear!

It was meant to be a global cyber security conference at The Netherlands. Security experts from all over the world had gathered to talk about digital security and the implications of billions of connected devices via IoT.

And then, an 11-year-old Indian-origin boy from Texas, US stunned everyone when he hacked into Bluetooth devices being used by those security experts and controlled his teddy bear using nothing but his laptop and Raspberry Pi.

That 11-year-old kid’s name is Reuben Paul, a class 6th student from Austin, Texas, and he has actually shocked the world.

After demonstrating his hacking skills, he said to the World Forum in Hague, Netherlands, “From aeroplanes to automobiles, from smartphones to smart homes, anything or any toy can be part of the Internet of Things (IoT). From terminators to teddy bears, anything or any toy can be weaponised.”

Later, Reuben tweeted:

It was fun but I hope people did not miss the message – Secure IoT before the Internet of Toys becomes the Internet of Threats :-) https://t.co/m09QFli4tp

— Reuben Paul (@RAPst4r) May 16, 2017

Here are some of the live reactions by the security experts present at the event:

What to do when you’re 11 years old? Hack your bear!
Respect @RAPst4r

#NLCyber pic.twitter.com/AeOBJ9gF0m

— Sebastian Dinjens (@sdinjens) May 16, 2017

Baffled by 11 years old Reuben and bear B-o-B! #NLcyber pic.twitter.com/UQrRZvtpWu

— Aart Jochem (@topjoch) May 16, 2017

The future of cybersecurity on stage at ONE, 11 yr old RuebenPaul #NLCyber pic.twitter.com/1xxK7tpz0C

— Michel Van Leeuwen (@MCM0x71) May 16, 2017

It was fun but I hope people did not miss the message – Secure IoT before the Internet of Toys becomes the Internet of Threats :-) https://t.co/m09QFli4tp

— Reuben Paul (@RAPst4r) May 16, 2017

The Mechanism of The Teddy Bear Hack

During the conference, Reuben had brought with him a teddy bear which can be connected with WiFi network and a Cloud to send and receive messages.

This teddy bear was the representation of any IoT connected device, anywhere in the world.

Next, Reuben attached a Raspberry Pi mini-computer into his laptop, and using some hacking technique, he scanned the Bluetooth devices present in the auditorium, and downloaded their associated numbers.

Then, he used Python programming language to hack into one of the numbers, and using that number, he controlled that teddy bear and turned on music and lights, without any physical contact.

Basically, he hacked that teddy bear, using Raspberry Pi and Bluetooth.

A scary scenario, for any IoT device in this world.

Reuben said, “Most internet-connected things have a Bluetooth functionality … I basically showed how I could connect to it, and send commands to it, by recording audio and playing the light,”

When he was 8, he delivered the keynote address at 2014 Houston Security Conference, where he said that his only mission is to warn people, how Internet of Things can be hacked, and how it can unleash devastation all around.

Reuben is also the youngest American to become Shaolin Kung Fu black belt.