There is something wrong with the tractor. The water-in-fuel sensor, a small device embedded in the John Deere machine that monitors the integrity of its diesel engine, is disconnected. And Iβve got to fix it.
Iβm not a mechanic or a farmer. Iβm poking at a laptop at John Deereβs corporate office in Santa Clara, California. Thereβs a cable connecting the computer to a 5130ML tractor sitting on the grass nearby. A bright red notification sits on the screen, telling me something is wrong. I type in a question and the software pulls up instructions and a few images from the user manual that matches the serial number of the machine.
Although we often find ourselves drowning in a seemingly unending sea of portable devices that are effectively e-waste once an internal component gives out, itβs good to remind ourselves that there are a few examples out there by large brands that manage to tick all the fancy feature boxes, while still being very much repairable. Case in point the Pixel Watch 5, a smart watch which much like its predecessor gets a 9/10 on [iFixit]βs repairability score.
No heat gun required, just undo the latch on the side of the watch.
Despite featuring anΒ IP68 rating, opening it is as easy as taking out a few screws to release its latch. This allows the back to swing open, with not a drop of glue in sight, just an O-ring gasket that keeps moisture out and can be reused many times. Digging into the guts, there are color-coded screws that guide oneβs hand as the very modular design is taken apart in a matter of minutes.
Being able to simply unlatch the back, and also easily obtain spare parts are two aspects that are a very welcome sight indeed. Although itβs much easier to just glue everything together, something like this latch-and-gasket approach is something that we hope that more manufacturers will copy for these small devices.
Itβs potentially also an idea for oneβs next DIY smart watch project, as tempting as reaching for that tube of glue may seem.
Bluetooth is often seen as something short range and therefore harmless. Many people think that because it only works over a limited distance, it must also be secure by design. But thatβs not true. Bluetooth is convenient, but convenience often comes at the cost of security and privacy. A big number of vulnerabilities show that Bluetooth devices can expose much more information than many realize. At a technical level, they constantly announce their presence to the surrounding environment. Even when you are not actively using them, they still send small pieces of data. Over time these pieces form patterns that show detailed information about peopleβs lives.
Hackers can take control of devices, pair with them without permission and even use them as remote listening tools. In other cases, simply listening is enough.Β
WhisperPair Vulnerability
In January 2026, researchers from KU Leuven disclosed a critical Bluetooth vulnerability known as WhisperPair (CVE-2025-36911). This vulnerability affects hundreds of millions of Bluetooth audio devices, including headphones and headsets that rely on modern pairing mechanisms. The attack takes advantage of a feature called Fast Pair in Android. Fast Pair was designed to simplify the user experience. With a single tap users can connect their Bluetooth accessories and synchronize them with their account. Itβs convenient and widely adopted.
However, some devices donβt properly ignore pairing requests when they arenβt in pairing mode. A hacker can exploit this by sending crafted pairing initiation packets to a vulnerable device. Even if the device isnβt actively trying to connect, it may still respond. Once the hacker receives that response, they can establish a normal Bluetooth connection.
Source: WhisperPair
From that point on, the hacker gains control over the accessory.Β
Source: WhisperPair
Then they can activate the microphone to record conversations. The attack works from up to 14 meters away, which is plenty for offices, cafes or public transport.
Source: WhisperPair
This can be combined with device tracking. Some Bluetooth accessories integrate with Googleβs Find Hub network, which allows lost devices to be located using nearby Android devices. If a vulnerable accessory has never been paired with an Android device before, a hacker can register it under their own Google account. In doing so, they become the βownerβ of the device in the tracking system.
An attacker tracks the victimβs location through the Find Hub network. Source: WhisperPair
The victim may eventually receive a notification about unwanted tracking, but the alert can appear misleading. If the userβs own device is responsible for tracking, that will cause confusion and reduce the likelihood that the threat is taken seriously. Meanwhile, the hacker continues to track the device over time. It affects multiple vendors, chipsets and product lines. As a result, exploitation is likely to continue well beyond 2026.
Bluehood Scanner
Sometimes, attacks are completely passive. In February 2026, a developer released a Bluetooth scanner called Bluehood. It looks like a monitoring tool and shows how much information can be extracted from the environment without ever connecting to a device.
Bluetooth is almost always enabled. Phones, laptops, smartwatches, headphones, cars and even medical devices continuously broadcast signals. Bluehood listens to that data and builds patterns over time. By passively listening to this traffic over days or weeks, hackers can reconstruct behavior.
For example, you can find out when delivery vehicles arrive and whether the same driver appears regularly. You can see daily routines by tracking when certain devices appear and disappear. You can also correlate devices that are always seen together, such as a phone and a smartwatch, which likely belong to the same person. You can even determine approximate schedules when someone leaves for work or returns home.
You donβt need to buy hardware for that. In many cases, a laptop will do the job. If you want, you can get a Raspberry Pi with a Bluetooth adapter.Β
Some devices are designed to always keep Bluetooth active. Hearing aids, for instance, rely on Bluetooth Low Energy for configuration and diagnostics. Pacemakers may also broadcast BLE signals for similar reasons. These arenβt devices that users can simply turn off.
Many cars use Bluetooth for diagnostics, driver assistance and connectivity features. Consumer devices add even more noise to the environment. Smartwatches, pet trackers and fitness equipment all give off signals. Together, they create a dense network of signals that can be analyzed.
Bluehood works only in passive mode. It doesnβt try to connect to devices. It identifies them based on manufacturer data and BLE service UUIDs, then tracks when they appear and disappear. The tool also includes a web dashboard. It generates hourly and daily heatmaps, tracks dwell time and has filters. New devices often use randomized MAC addresses for privacy and Bluehood can detect and filter these.
Installation
You can installΒ the tool quickly using Docker.
kali > git clone https://github.com/dannymcc/bluehood.git
kali > cd bluehood
kali > docker compose up -d
Alternatively, you can install it using package managers and Python tools.
kali > sudo apt install bluez python3-pip
kali > pip install -e .
kali > sudo bluehood
After the installation you can start the scanner.
# Start with web dashboard (default port 8080)
kali > bluehood
# Specify a different port
kali > bluehood --port 9000
# Use a specific Bluetooth adapter
kali > bluehood --adapter hci1
# List available adapters
kali > bluehood --list-adapters
# Disable web dashboard (scanning only)
kali > bluehood --no-web
Keep in mind that if you installed the app with Docker Compose, it should be accessible at http://localhost:8080.
Collected data is stored in SQLite, and the tool can optionally send notifications through ntfy.sh when devices arrive or leave a location.
Summary
Bluetooth security is often underestimated because the technology feels invisible and low risk. Thatβs not the case though. There are active and passive techniques that can be used for tracking. Big cities often have listeners scattered around public places and stations, working like Bluehood. Active techniques like WhisperPair can lead to full device compromise with tracking and audio surveillance.
If you enjoy experimenting with frequencies and trying new things, we have our SDR for Hackers training. With Master OTW, youβll learn how to use your computer and inexpensive SDR hardware to explore and hack a wide range of radio signals.
After the [Slow Mo Guys] acquired a 168 TB Seagate LaCie Thunderbolt 3-based RAID storage system back in 2019 to store their video footage, they were obviously slightly miffed when suddenly it would just refuse to power up. Naturally the device was now out of warranty, the product itself no longer produced and Seagate support was less than supportive, ergo they sent the device to [Mend it Mark] for an attempted repair.
At first inspection the device appeared to be basically unresponsive, with none of the four fans running and no signs of life other than a few lit LEDs on the main PCB after supplying power to it. After full disassembly and with no repair guide or schematics to go by [Mark] had to start from basics, first diagnosing whether all the power rails were turning on, which they werenβt.
Eventually this led to the NXP LPC11U6x-series MCU which acts as the main power management and monitoring chip in the system. [Mark] deduced that this MCU wasnβt turning on all the power rails because it was waiting for a signal from the fan controllers on the SATA backplane. With the MCU sending the right signals here, and the fans all working when directly supplied with power, ultimately it turned out that a single SI2319 or similar P-channel MOSFET in SOT-23 package near one of the fan connectors had gone faulty.
Replacing this one MOSFET seems to have fixed the RAID array, with it now happily powering up, although the real test will be once the [Slow Mo Guys] start shoving the HDDs back into it. Assuming that this was the sole fault in the system, then it was a very cheap fix in terms of materials. Itβs a real shame that repair guides or schematics arenβt made available for devices like this, even if just after they stop being produced.
Smartphone longevity didn't used to matter. In the past, before you could wear out or break a phone, there was always some shiny new thing to buy. Today, we expect our smartphones to go the distance, but they've also become less repairable and, in many cases, more fragile. Fairphone, a Dutch smartphone maker that has just entered the US market, thinks about phones differently.
The new $650 Fairphone Gen 6+ is designed both for longevity and easy repairability. There are trade-offs to this approach if you're used to the standard glass and aluminum sandwiches filled with glue, gaskets, and teeny-tiny screws. But the drawbacks could be worth it for the right buyer. Fairphone CTO Chandler Hatton told Ars that Fairphone's goal is to provide a compelling mobile experience while also enabling the user to "fully own" their device. At the end of the day, this is what a lot of people say they want in a smartphone.
Take it apart, put it back together
These days, Google, Samsung, and Apple support phones with software updates for the better part of a decade, but will the hardware last that long? And what happens when it needs a repair? You may be out of luck or out a lot of money, but Fairphone prioritizes the self-repair experience.
Old cameras are a fantastic way to experiment with photography, and outside a few brands, they can be an inexpensive way too. Itβs easy to find older cameras in a broken condition forΒ a lot less money, but if youβre tempted to fix one then [enthdegree] has some advice for you.
Itβs ostensibly a set of notes on the disassembly and repair of a Nikon F100 35mm film SLR, but along the way itβs full of useful tips and tricks for camera disassembly. he materials youβll need, advice on not losing screws is one, and warnings against disassembling too much is another. Itβs all the stuff he wished heβd known before starting, and now you can know it too.
Fixing up old cameras in this way is rewarding, and something weβve certainly been known to do ourselves. But itβs worth bearing in mind that itβs not for the faint-hearted, and with decades of old film cameras sitting unused, often a working example might make more sense.
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Credit:
Boone Ashworth
