Inside the Hacker Backpack, laptop, USB Rubber Ducky, Wi-Fi Adapter, Secondary phone, Raspberry Pi, Power Bank , Wi-Fi Pineapple, External SSD

Despite what you might see in Hollywood movies, hackers don’t just come into their target systems with just their hands and go gangsta on any available keyboard. Even the best hackers need tools in order to interface with their target systems whether they do it remotely or onsite. To Hollywood’s credit, they’re slowly getting there. Hackers need a backpack full of necessary tools and gadgets in order to do their work and in this article, we’re going to find out what the typical hacker has in their bag.

• Laptop — First of these is a laptop. Hackers of course, need their own computer to do their dirty work and need access to their operating system, software tools and references they might need. Since laptops are now more portable, they might even have two inside their backpack as insurance or contingency. The laptop OS will often be Linux with any of these flavors—Kali, Parrot, Debian, Elementary OS, Black Arch.

• USB Rubber Ducky – Hackers can have several of these deceptive-looking USB devices in their backpacks. USB Rubber duckies look like ordinary USB sticks or pen drives but actually contain a malware payload which loads itself into a computer as soon as the device is inserted. Hackers of the bad sort would leave some lying around in order to bait unsuspecting workers into picking them up and inserting them into their workplace. Rubber duckies are undetectable by anti-malware because it registers itself as an HID device and not as storage. Once in, they send out series of keystrokes that can open up security holes and/or remotely load malware, or it can be used to steal user credentials as well as data.
• Wi-Fi Adapter – there are special Wi-Fi adapters used by hackers that have what’s called a monitor mode and are capable of packet injection. Hackers have these instead of relying on the built-in Wi-Fi of their phones and laptops.
• Secondary phone – speaking of phones, not all places allow the use of laptops. Hackers who need to be incognito on-site carry special phones with operating systems that can support the tools they require such as Kali Nethunter. These phones can also double as rubber duckies.
• Raspberry Pi – the Pi, being a powerful single board computer has found a use in the field of hacking and penetration testing. Aside from a laptop, it can act as a second or even primary attack computer safely tucked away in a bag, remotely controlled by the laptop.
• Power Bank – by now is a heavy but necessary evil, to power demanding mobile devices. It can be used conventionally to power the hackers’ primary and secondary phones or provide power to the hidden Raspberry Pi or Wi-Fi Pineapple.
• Wi-Fi Pineapple – is a device that creates rogue access points hackers can use to phish for credentials, as well as audit nearby networks.
• External SSD or high-capacity flash drive – to contain necessary tools and files as well as storage for stolen data.
• USB Killer – is a flash drive designed to destroy the internal circuitry of computers it’s used on. It carries a high-voltage charge which damages a computer’s motherboard beyond repair. It’s carried as a prank, or in order to hide evidence of the hacker’s presence by destroying a workstation or the hacker’s own equipment.
• Other backpack contents may include, portable keyboard, mouse, various types of USB cables, chargers and adapters, multipurpose card reader, USB drive containing a portable operating system mostly Tails OS, small flashlight, pen and paper, pillbox for SD cards and flash drives, Bluetooth headsets and sweets.

These need to be in the list of collective things that security officers need to watch out for in case a person entering the premises is not part of the IT department. Hackers are everywhere and can be present inside or in the vicinity in case the target cannot be accessed remotely.