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Old Device project

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  • 10-05-2019 10:58pm
    #1
    D'Agger
    Registered Users Posts: 13,385 ✭✭✭✭


    Hi All,

    In doing a clear out around the house I've found two older devices that are in one form or another banjaxed. Before I look to recycle them I'm wondering if there's any use for them as part of a project to say, hack older OS etc.

    I could put them on my network via LAN but I'm not sure that's a good idea given they could have malware on them for all I know and I don't have the ability to put them in a DMZ style setup.

    I'm wondering if anybody has seen Security projects that could aim to use the computing power of these two devices to put them to good use on a home network or a project for hacking old devices like this? My thinking is that I could just as easily use a VM, it'd be easier to manage

    Perhaps I could use one of the devices as a firewall with a PFSense install just to mess around but it might be overkill using a laptop for this.

    Anyway, I'm open to ideas on uses here, fire away!


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    #2
    horgan_p
    Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 2,604 Mod ✭✭✭✭horgan_p


    Um, maybe I'm missing something, but what are the devices ?
    Laptops, routers, switches, mobile phones ?
    The mention of Pfsense and you used the word laptop , so whats the spec of that to start with.


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    #3
    D'Agger
    Registered Users Posts: 13,385 ✭✭✭✭D'Agger


    horgan_p wrote: »
    Um, maybe I'm missing something, but what are the devices ?
    Laptops, routers, switches, mobile phones ?
    The mention of Pfsense and you used the word laptop , so whats the spec of that to start with.
    They're two old laptops but the display is broken on one and the other has an issue with the keyboard but decent enough spec on the two of them, one is a Win 7 with 8GB RAM & 500 GB storage so networking them and using them for something could be done, just wondering if anybody has used laptops as headless devices for some security related projects - other than using them as hackboxes which I may aswell use a VM for really


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    #4
    AlmightyCushion
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 35,053 Mod ✭✭✭✭AlmightyCushion


    D'Agger wrote: »
    They're two old laptops but the display is broken on one and the other has an issue with the keyboard but decent enough spec on the two of them, one is a Win 7 with 8GB RAM & 500 GB storage so networking them and using them for something could be done, just wondering if anybody has used laptops as headless devices for some security related projects - other than using them as hackboxes which I may aswell use a VM for really

    If they're decent you'd be better off fixing them up and giving them away or selling them. I used to do this a lot with old laptops that were going to go to recycling and friends/family used loved getting these second hand ones to replace their ancient pieces of shít.


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    #5
    horgan_p
    Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 2,604 Mod ✭✭✭✭horgan_p


    D'Agger wrote: »
    They're two old laptops but the display is broken on one and the other has an issue with the keyboard but decent enough spec on the two of them, one is a Win 7 with 8GB RAM & 500 GB storage so networking them and using them for something could be done, just wondering if anybody has used laptops as headless devices for some security related projects - other than using them as hackboxes which I may aswell use a VM for really

    You could run your own DNS server with one. I use pihole and it cuts way down on the ads seen on any device attached to the network

    You could also run open VPN server on the other ?


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    #6
    Dardania
    Registered Users Posts: 3,612 ✭✭✭Dardania


    If the one with the keyboard has the entire keyboard not working, that might be fixable. It could be just the connector from keyboard to motherboard is loose or got wet, which is fixable gently with an old tooth brush. Might be worth a try.

    Then stick ChromeOs on it: https://www.neverware.com/#introtext-3


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    #7
    smokedetector
    Registered Users Posts: 7 ✭smokedetector


    D'Agger wrote: »
    Hi All,

    In doing a clear out around the house I've found two older devices that are in one form or another banjaxed. Before I look to recycle them I'm wondering if there's any use for them as part of a project to say, hack older OS etc.

    I could put them on my network via LAN but I'm not sure that's a good idea given they could have malware on them for all I know and I don't have the ability to put them in a DMZ style setup.

    I'm wondering if anybody has seen Security projects that could aim to use the computing power of these two devices to put them to good use on a home network or a project for hacking old devices like this? My thinking is that I could just as easily use a VM, it'd be easier to manage

    Perhaps I could use one of the devices as a firewall with a PFSense install just to mess around but it might be overkill using a laptop for this.

    Anyway, I'm open to ideas on uses here, fire away!

    You could make them as dedicated servers and use it just like a dropbox.
    but with more space :)


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