Build Your Own Bluetooth Sniper Rifle 309
Jim Buzbee writes "I don't think I'd do it, but these guys built a Bluetooth Sniper rifle, went to the roof of a downtown Los Angles skyscraper and pointed it at nearby buildings. See what they found, and if you're so inclined, they'll show how to build your own and maybe, just maybe, you too can snag Paris Hilton's address book." (Which was not snagged via Bluetooth snooping, as the article points out.) This version looks a bit more polished than the one mentioned last August.
Frightening, ? (Score:4, Interesting)
Seriously though, I wonder how many people do auto-accept BT connections? My PDA only accepts known pairs, so you need to physically talk to me to pair you up for the first time.
The friendly article seems to mentioned the "success" in BT detection, but didn't go in details of successful connection. It's like car thieves claim to detect 20,000 cars in the city centre, but didn't say how many were unlocked.
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, no kidding! Gosh, if someone aimed EXACTLY at my blue-tooth cell phone, held up to my ear, by the time the bullet traveled 300 yards it would be AT LEAST 12 inches lower and 2 or 3 inches to either side! HA! The joke is on them!
Eh..
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:4, Informative)
just a remiander (in the absence of air resistance, and bullets are designed for minimal air resistance)
Dy = 0.5(-32 ft/s/s)(Dt)^2 + v*sin(a)(Dt)
Dt = (Dx)/(v*cos(a))
so:
Dy = 0.5(-32 ft/s/s)((Dx)/(v*cos(a)) + (Dx)tan(a)
where:
a=angle
v=inital velocity
Dt= change in time
Dx= change in horizontal position
Dy= change in vertical position
therefore, if a is between 0 and 90 degrees there will be less drift than if a is between -90 and 0 degrees.
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:3, Informative)
So if you are shooting downhill at a 45 degree angle, then that 300 yards you mentioned must be multiplied by the sin of the downward (or upward, they are in fact interchangeable) angle which for 45 degrees is
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:3, Interesting)
You're pretty close actually, accoding to Sniper Central [snipercentral.com] typical .308 168 grain bullets when zeroed at 100 yards will drop about 16" and have a drift of about 7" in a 10mph crosswind.
.223 cartridge [snipercentral.com] as the DC "Sniper" did you're looking at about 1
Now if you were to go with the
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:4, Insightful)
Though you've been modded down for the flamebait monger you are, and I know I shouldn't feed trolls, I feel compelled to address this idiocy. First, murder is a legal term, roughly defined as "the unlawful taking a human life". Now, since hunting animals is neither unlawful nor taking human life, you're an idiot (actually the correct conclusion is that it's not murder, but I like the idiot one better). Second, even if we ignore the misuse of the word murder and get to the premise of your position, i.e. that killing animals is a bad thing, this leads to other flaws in your position. Are coyotes "bad" for killing rabbits? Are house cats "bad" for killing birds? Humans hunt ungulates like deer and elk to keep their populations down. If we didn't, they'd overpopulate and starve to death in the winter. But I guess sensitive people like you would rather see hundreds of deer die of malnutrition and those that survive suffer the pain of hunger, rather than hunt enough of them to keep there numbers stable.
Moron.
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:4, Interesting)
What are we, aliens? No, we're animals from the planet Earth. By far the best damn animals the planet has ever seen, but still animals. We evolved. We are part of nature. The Interweb is just as natural as a beaver's dam.
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:4, Insightful)
Ten thousand? Try 2 million.
Animals in general have been around a lot longer, so you need to consider that animals clearly can take care of themselves
We're animals too. Us hunting is as natural as a coyote hunting. We do not exist outside of nature. We are part of nature.
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:3, Interesting)
How did you think "animals clearly took care of themselves"? Herbivores decided that their population got too large and dropped dead? Well, Sherlock, they were killed, much more brutally, by other animals. Other large pr
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:5, Funny)
As for the issue of wind--you could use the cell phone's internet connection to check the weather.
And if you miss? Have the camera snap a photo so you can see where the bullet hit, and compensate for the next shot.
This could be a movie...
The trailer:
[fade in, city street scene, zoom in on businessman's cell phone, it reads 'accessing weather net...']
Raspy Voice Guy: "In a high tech world gone mad, your cell phone can kill you..."
[fast fade out with gunshot sound]
RVG: "From 200 yards away."
[abrupt music 'attack', then fast and disconcerting drums, lot's of quick shots of a normal city street life interspersed with people looking up from their phones to some distant skyscraper window]
RVG: "This summer, in theaters everywhere, your phone bluetooths you."
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:2, Interesting)
It's like saying, "dude, I'm gonna die," and someone quickly correcting you, "no, you'll just be lethally wounded with an actual chance of survival."
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:2)
A) lasers do not take into account windage and bullet trajectory, and
B) They give the sniper away.
Lasers to guide bombs, yeah, that's one thing... not bullets.
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:2)
I don't know if that's what you meant.
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:4, Insightful)
I imagine most people just use the default setting...
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:2)
I am sure it could be built to look like a telescope, cardboard box, antenna or whatever. They just built it like that because of all the extra testosterone coursing through their bodies. Point well taken, though.
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:2)
Bluetooth is a short-range protocol. It doesn't transmit but, what, 20 feet at max?
A rifle, let alone a so-called "sniper rifle" would be pointless at that range. If you were 20 feet from someone and had a knife, you'd have just as good of odds of stabbing them as shooting them with an anamatronically controlled rifle... probably better, provided they don't see you and run away.
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:2)
Not very stealthy. Duh!
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:4, Funny)
The whole point of TFA is that the "rifle" can connect to bluetooth devices up to 1 km away.
Unfortunately, the gun nuts are all talking about muzzle velocity, flash suppressors, one bullet one kill, etc, and starting brush wars about the 2nd amendment, as is their wont, so no one is actually discussing TFA anyway...
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:2)
The device must be sending a signal, otherwise your device wouldn't be aware of it, period.
Or am I missing something here? I don't see how devices discover each other without them both communicating their presence.
Re:Frightening, ? (Score:2)
I guess (Score:2, Funny)
Re:I guess (Score:2)
Mach 4 is greater than Mach 1 (Score:2)
Re:I guess (Score:5, Informative)
You will hear a sonic boom anytime something travels faster than the speed of sound at your location. Typically, this means an aircraft must travel abut Mach 1.15 above you for you to hear the boom on the ground. An aircraft travelling Mach 1 will typically not produce a boom on the ground as the speed of sound is greater on the ground than it is at altitude. And, of course, anything travelling faster (i.e. Mach 4) will cause a boom as well.
Back to our program.
Re:I guess (Score:3, Interesting)
A gentleman by the name of Chuck knew this and said, "So what. It's worth the risk."
Re:I guess (Score:2)
Not wise... (Score:5, Insightful)
We decided to quickly conclude the scan, given police activity in the area earlier in the day from a bomb scare.
You too can get shot for looking like a terrorist!
Re:Not wise... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Not wise... (Score:3)
And for a very good reason. How probable it is that the thing that looks very much like a custom-built RPG launcher or high powered riffle is in fact a piece of harmless radio equipment? Just compare the number of Bluetooth and "traditional" riffles out there.
So it was outright stupid to design it in this way, although arguably riffle design has it's advantages - it's probably the best, evolved over time, lay
Re:Not wise... (Score:5, Funny)
DARWIN AWARD CANDIDATE 2: Hey yeah! Get out your nifty BlueTooth detector thingie!
Re:Not wise... (Score:2)
On several occasions whilst my mates and I have been doing WiFi surveys with handheld dish antennas. (seeing where we can connect to our own gear), old people have come up and abused us for "eavesdropping". Yeah, real tinfoil hat type stuff.
That said, making it looks like (and named after) a rifle is idiotic.
Re:WTF is the US geek fascination with guns? (Score:3, Insightful)
Yeah, especially since... (Score:4, Insightful)
So let me get this straight, if you have your device always on and discoverable you are vulnerable? Jesus, I would never expect that. Next thing you know it will be dangerous to be connected to the web without a firewall installed.
Bluetooth is nice, but the security measure do seem pretty weak, no minimum pin length etc.
Re:Not wise... (Score:2)
Are any reasons given for why they decided to go with this flamebait (for lack of a better term) design? They could have made it look like a telescope instead I imagine.
Of course this is coming from somebody who used to think it was fun to sneak around and shoot frat jocks with bb guns back in highschool.
Re:Not wise... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Not wise... neither illicit (Score:2, Informative)
Bluetooth (Score:2, Funny)
Bluetooth (Score:2, Interesting)
Any experts in the house (of course there are, we're on Slashdot!).
Re:Bluetooth (Score:2)
The Jackal could have used it... (Score:4, Interesting)
See what they found (Score:5, Funny)
Uh Oh (Score:5, Funny)
The inherent Bluetooth flaw... (Score:5, Insightful)
I've seen it a lot at my school, whereby a particularly dodgy or deprecating picture (no goatse yet, but can't be long) is passed along in the lounges by somebody simply searching for Bluetooth phones and sending a pic, which simply can't be refused ("because it might be something important!!!"). I'd say it's even more tempting to accept a Bluetoothed file than an email attachment, because in Bluetooth you're only getting the bare information about a file (ie, the size of it and file type), whereas you can generally filter out automatically generated email viruses with ease...
The solution is to turn Bluetooth off all the time except when you want to use it (something I do anyway, since it conserves battery power), but a surprisingly large number of people seem to have it on all the time.
Happy hunting (Score:5, Funny)
ObMirrorDot (Score:5, Insightful)
For example... this one [mirrordot.org].
Re:ObMirrorDot (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:ObMirrorDot (Score:2)
Its just a shame that they don't use things that already exist such as mirror dot, coral, etc.. They really don't _need_ to implement much. It is just arrogance.
google cache (Score:2, Informative)
a better use (Score:4, Funny)
why do the best inventions always need to be modified to be better.
How to deal with that? (Score:3, Interesting)
In other words, users are generally right in their expectance of some form of protection of their privacy. You could argue that BT devices should have been built in a way that would prevent any of that from happening, but it's easy to criticize with hindsight. I think some line in the sand would have to be drawn on this one too, the problem is that it would be technologically ignorant lobbying-prone politicians who would do the drawing. It's enough to look at the case of good, old-fashioned radio scanners to foresee results.
Re:How to deal with that? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:How to deal with that? (Score:3, Insightful)
You are right, of course. However, I believe BT designers were not geeks and their thinking was not twisted enough. The were operating within the "very very local connections" mindset - I'm totally sure no one even considered the possibility of any sort of attack on such device coming from a mile away or so. BT was supposed to create the "PAN" or Personal Area Network - in other words to communicate within few feet.
Now, I wonder if designers of the Zigbee [wikipedia.org] would pay attention.
The courts have dealt with similar issues (Score:2, Interesting)
If it is encrypted, you cannot decrypt it, because it is obviously not yours. If it is not broadcast, i.e. you use RF to gain access to a system and gather information that is not being broadcast,
Re:How to deal with that? (Score:3, Insightful)
That's a REALLY silly idea.
So I go out and buy a gun, and I bear no responsibility for what happens with it?
How am *I* supposed to know that I shouldn't jerk the steering wheel to one side while doing 90 on the freeway?
You mean I'm not supposed to reach inside the toaster and grab the bread with my bare hands?
Maybe
I'm sorry, but... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I'm sorry, but... (Score:5, Funny)
I dont think Sniper Rifle is the correct term here (Score:5, Insightful)
"Oh i'm just pointing my Bluetooth Sniper Rifle at that crowded building of . .
*insert police beatdown here*
No such thing as short range RF (Score:5, Informative)
Re:No such thing as short range RF (Score:5, Funny)
Re:No such thing as short range RF (Score:3, Informative)
Remember, Bluetooth was designed to have 30+ foot r
updated link... (Score:4, Funny)
Sunday Slashdotting (Score:5, Funny)
for all you bluesnoopers.. (Score:3, Funny)
you'll recognize me from my baseball bat and my tinfoil hat
*HEADSHOT* (Score:5, Funny)
head: 46723723346844684
body: 0
arms: 0
legs: 0
conneting to my phone (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Pedantry (Score:3, Funny)
Why make it look like a rifle? (Score:5, Interesting)
There are times when the form factor of a rifle makes perfect sense (rifle stocks for cameras, for example), but many others where it just DOESN'T. This is one of the latter group.
Mal-2
Re:Why make it look like a rifle? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Why make it look like a rifle? (Score:3, Insightful)
The whole point of this was that they are far enough away th
Bluetooth Guns for Police (Score:2)
Darwin Award Candidate (Score:2, Funny)
Let me guess, it's powered by a bunch of large batteries, conspicuously wired together in a military-style vest.
Re:Darwin Award Candidate (Score:3, Funny)
Go ahead and fill out the rest of the form, Name, Date Of Birth and all, just leave blank date and time of death, and for the description of death just leave a few sentences of white space then write "while holding a home-built Blutetooth Sniper Rifle."
Professional look? (Score:4, Funny)
Yes, the professional hit man look is exactly what I'm trying to have when I'm searching for vulnerable bluetooth devices.
Why a gun (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Why a gun (Score:2)
Really? From the article:
Re:Why a gun (Score:2)
Misleading headline! (Score:2)
A Darwin award in the making... (Score:5, Insightful)
Double bonus points if Schwarzenegger or some other high profile politician is in town that day.
Our antenna thingy (Score:3, Interesting)
For a different take on the antenna "gun", check out our "Trackmaster 2000" [pdx.edu] 802.11/ATV rocket tracking antenna for the PSAS [pdx.edu] launch vehicle.
Spelling mistake! (Score:2, Interesting)
what's in a name (Score:3, Insightful)
Call it a "security enforcement sensor" or a "privacy alert device" or "child protection wand" and politicians will have a much harder time banning it and throwing you in jail for using it.
Re:what's in a name (Score:3, Funny)
P2P, File sharing == Freedom sharing.
Wardriving, warflying, warjogging == Access Point Liberation.
Bluetooth Sniper Rifle == Terrorist Locator.
I think if we called the thing a Terrorist Locator they'd sell it at Walmart, and my grandmother would buy 9 of them.
what's in a shape? (Score:5, Funny)
And, whatever you do, don't make it shaped like a 4ft dildo. With sniper rifles, at least the powerful gun lobby will stand behind you. When someone stands behind you while you are pointing a 4ft dildo off a rooftop, it's probably not to protect your civil liberties.
Re:what's in a shape? (Score:3, Funny)
nice, this will also give you a +3 modifier vs undead
I saw the words Paris Hilton and Sniper Rifle... (Score:5, Funny)
Dangerous game (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Slashdotted (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Slashdotted (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Slashdotted (Score:2, Funny)
{
buildrifle();
}
buildrifle()
{
readsite();
}
main()
{
buildrifle();
}
An Unexpected error has occured: "Stack Overflow"
Report to slasdot? YES|NO
Re:is it just me? (Score:2)
Re:is it just me? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:is it just me? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:is it just me? (Score:3, Insightful)
Crazy.
Re:is it just me? (Score:2)
Re:is it just me? (Score:2, Funny)
Step 2: Remove Bluetooth antenna from assembly.
Step 3: Buy real, working, sniper rifle.
Step 4: Cram Bluetooth antenna up Parent Poster's ass.
Step 5: Use actual gun to shoot people.
(Step 5 void where prohibited by law.)