Learn IoT hacking without the actual device! This brand new mini-workshop created for the IoT Village provides a quick intro to QEMU, a popular open source machine emulator and virtualizer. Cybersecurity researchers often use emulation for product testing even without the physical hardware. It’s also helpful for making it easier to use common tools and methods like fuzzing and debugging. In this Free Extended Upskill Challenge (UCx), Andrew Bellini teaches emulating a “thing” and exploiting a vulnerability in it.
The Scenario: You work for an undisclosed cybercrime division tasked with finding a way into an organized crime ring. Your physical recon team discovered that the crime boss is a bit of a gadget freak and loves smart appliances. His security team did a great job of segmenting the network to isolate all the “things”. But they forgot one… the bathroom!
That’s right… We’re breaking in through the toilet!
Just Hacking Training (JHT) is proud to continue sponsoring the IoT Village for the entirety of 2026! Last year’s 2 UCxs were only available in-person until after DEF CON, then we released them to the rest of the world. This year… our 2 new challenges are available all year both in the Village and here on JHT! Try them all:
- UCx – QEMU: Emulate Your “Things”
- Also new for 2026! – UCx – Encryption! What Encryption? (Coming Soon)
- UCx – MQTT: Talk to Your “Things”
- UCx – Router Ruh Roh
Price = $0 – $5
This is a “Name Your Price” course. Your options include:
- Minimum Price = $0
- Suggested Price = $5
- Pay more to support our community efforts
What’s an Upskill Challenge (UC)?
A Free Upskill Challenge is a bite-sized lesson from the JHT Team, our courseware developers as well as “friends” of JHT. They are meant to be short and to the point. UCs focus on a single tool or concept and are helpful in quickly providing useful skills that might be prerequisites for other types of educational content on the platform.
A UC is only 10 – 30 minutes of student time and have no VMs. There are quizzes at the end to make sure that the content is understood.
What’s an Extended Upskill Challenge (UCx)?
To accommodate more detailed topics and virtual environments, JHT has released a new product, the Extended UC (or UCx). A UCx can be 30 – 120 minutes of student time and includes VMs. A UCx is a NameYourPrice item with $0 as the lowest accepted cost. That’s right… FREE! Virtual labs do have a cost, so anything you can contribute is greatly appreciated.
What do I get with “UCx – QEMU”?
Students get their own virtual environment to get hands-on experience with the tools and techniques taught in the course. It is also web-based, so you need nothing else other than a computer and Internet access.
Prerequisites for “UCx – QEMU”
UCs and UCxs assume no knowledge at all! They’re meant to be completely self-contained, so all of the answers are in the lesson. No outside research is required.
