Up-Shut with The Blackhat, a Customized Open-Supply Handheld Pc

A small stealthy gadget lies within the hand, like one thing out of a dusty sci-fi prop field, with a compact display, a grid of keys, and an antenna protruding from the highest. That is The Blackhat, an open-source handheld pc created by Ryan Walker of Rootkit Labs. What started as a convention badge for the WHY2025 occasion has developed into one thing way more succesful: a conveyable Linux system appropriate for on-the-go work, safety testing, experimentation, and easily taking part in round.

Walker began with the unique WHY2025 badge, which already had some nice parts inside: a pleasant show, an honest mechanical keyboard from Solder Occasion, and sufficient power to deal with the fundamentals. Then he eliminated the unique ESP32-P4 module and changed it along with his personal distinctive configuration. The core now runs on an Allwinner A33 quad-core CPU operating between 1.5 and 1.8 GHz, with 512 MB of RAM. This SoC powers your complete system, eliminating the necessity for fashionable single-board computer systems such because the Raspberry Pi. The result’s only a extra intentional and self-contained entity.

A 480×480 LCD display supplies good views and is brilliant sufficient for use outdoors whereas being sharp sufficient for text-heavy actions. The keyboard is beneath it, organized in a grid that encourages you to touch-type even whenever you’re cramped for house. The keys click on with wonderful really feel, and the format contains separate navigation and shortcut buttons. Then there are the ports, which give much more flexibility: two USB-A connectors for peripherals, considered one of which is usually routed by means of a hub, permitting you to attach the keyboard and some different units at concurrently. So you’ll be able to join a mouse, a software-defined radio, and extra storage, and it’ll nonetheless settle for as much as three USB units without delay. The built-in Wi-Fi retains it linked, however the antenna supplies a bit further vary when it’s worthwhile to be on-line for sure community chores.

The ability comes from a compact battery, which is regulated by the identical charging electronics that Walker used within the authentic badge design. The entire system is small, pocket-sized, and weighs lower than a cellphone, nevertheless it has all the facility of a desktop-class Linux PC. Walker runs Kali Linux on it natively, however he’s switching to Armbian for simpler bundle administration and full entry to Kali instruments by way of apt. He’s already had a number of of the instruments up and operating, together with aircrack-ng, RouterSploit, nmap, and a few customized Wi-Fi auditing scripts that each one function nicely. You may compile code in Python, Go, Rust, or C++, edit it in Vim, browse the online in Firefox or Chrome, and even play Doom to check how far the visuals might be pushed.

Some of the notable options is its modularity, because the design relies on Walker’s earlier Flipper Blackhat, an open-source Wi-Fi add-on for the Flipper Zero. The Blackpants function a provider board, and the Blackhat module simply slots in by way of headers, so that you don’t must put it to use. The entire assets can be found on GitHub underneath an MIT license, together with the schematics, PCB layouts, case designs, and firmware, so you’ll be able to assemble it your self or buy a package from Walker’s web site. The nicest characteristic is that there aren’t any proprietary parts that may lock you out; the whole lot is documented and customizable.
[Source]