Samy Kamkar’s YouTube Hacks: Turning Everyday Gadgets into Security Experiments

Samy Kamkar’s Applied Hacking on YouTube

Samy Kamkar runs the “Applied Hacking” series on YouTube, posting weekly videos that have attracted over 50,000 subscribers and showcase a range of “black‑tech” projects.

Black‑Tech Projects

Electric toy garage opener – using a children’s remote‑control car to open a garage door.

3D‑printed lock‑picking robot – a low‑cost robot that can crack combination locks.

USB wireless keyboard sniffer – a device disguised as a charger that captures keystrokes.

Drone attacker – a drone that scans for nearby Wi‑Fi drones, hijacks them, and takes control.

Remote‑control car hacks – the “OwnStar” device that manipulates GM’s OnStar RemoteLink to locate, unlock and start a car, later adapted for BMW and Mercedes.

Rolljam – a $32 jammer that captures and replays garage‑door remote codes.

Credit‑card cloning tools – software that predicts the next Amex number and the $10 “MagSpoof” device that emulates a card.

These projects were demonstrated at Black Hat and DEF CON in 2015, prompting the affected manufacturers to issue security patches.

Early Life and the Samy Worm

Kamkar’s interest in hacking began at age 10 after a crash in an IRC chat. He later wrote cheats for Counter‑Strike, founded a VoIP company, and at 19 discovered a XSS vulnerability on MySpace. He released the “Samy” worm, which added a million friends to his profile before he was arrested for computer fraud and sentenced to three years without computer access.

Post‑Incarceration Shift

During his restricted period Kamkar focused on personal growth, later returning to security research with projects like evercookie, which stores tracking cookies in obscure browser locations. He now separates his research from commercial work, avoids monetizing exploits, and uses YouTube to educate a broad audience about information security.