So it started with an idea.  How cool would it be to get everybody to install a QR code reader and read temporary tattoos off each other?  Anyway, at Shmoocon I walked around with a bag of QR temporary tattoos much to the delight and chagrin of the hackers assembled therein.

The howto:
#1 Get a barcode generator. I use zint, it’s my favorite tool for generation.  For those of you on Ubuntu or Debian, I have packages built for you.  And give the zint guys some money while you’re at it, they use the funds to buy standards and make zint work with every symbology known to mankind.

#2 Get a layout program. I use Inkscape.  Key here is that it has to be able to import .svg files and be able to flip images horizontally.

#3 Get printable temporary tattoo paper. It’s not really cheap, but I found kits on tattoofun.com.  The kit consists of waterslide temporary tattoo paper, adhesive sheets, and an instruction sheet.

#4 Make .svg Barcodes! I load up zint and toss some text at it, then use the QR symbology.  Some examples:

• sms:7035551234 body:Greetz from teh Internetz
• MATMSG: TO:shredder@guerilla-ciso.com; SUB:Test; BODY:This is a test. Please reply if received.;;
• MECARD:N:Wizzleteague, Stinky;ADR:1234 Main St, Arlington, VA 22202;TEL:+17035551234;EMAIL:shredder@guerilla-ciso.com;;
• Hi, I’m Quine. I haz a RAGE! https://twitter.com/quine
• I went to Shmoo and all I got was the flu
• BTW, if you want to pay me to make QR tattoos for promotion events, drop me an email.

#4.5 Add in QR error correction. The more error correction you use, the more data in the barcode so the smaller the blocks are.  However, some error correction compensates for distortion and glare.  IIUC, Zint automagically adds in 20% error correction.  I’m not sure what the magic number here is because it depends on the size of the printed barcodes.

#5 Export barcode from zint. SVG is awesome to save as because you can scale the barcodes up as much as you want and they won’t get all pixelated-looking.  You can grab a ton of the barcodes I made here.

#6 Import barcode into inkscape.  File=>Import then select the .svg file you want.  Since the barcodes are svg, you can scale them awesomely.  For mine, I set up guidelines so I could lay out rows proportionately.  Be sure to lock the object proportions or you’ll get hideously warped QR monstrosities that nothing can read.  You can grab my sheet of barcodes here.

#7 Make “The Big Flip” and print.  Inkscape-specific: Edit=>Select All   followed by   Object=>Flip Horizontal.  Then print the page on the glossy side of the slide water paper.

#8 Add the sticky.  It’s a bit like laminating a map only the adhesive is way more forgiving.  Poke some pin-holes in the adhesive sheet and smooth out all the bubbles.

#9 Cut, peel, stick, wet, pull, read, lol.  You can get a reader here, but the important bits: iTunes Store: Barcodes.  Android: Barcode Scanner.

Lessons Learned:

Laser barcode scanners don’t work because the film is reflective.  Photo-based barcode scanners (ie, most mobile scanners) work pretty well.

You have to make the barcodes bigger than I did.  Mine were .75x.75 inches and due to the glare on the paper and some distortion due to putting them on skin, they were hard to read.  I think maybe 2×2 inches are optimum.

Hackers don’t like informational urls in their tattoos: “I got an add for ZXing, this sucks”.  I think random goofy phrases and skin pwnage would work better than informational urls.

Some people (Quine) weren’t happy with a grab-bag random url and needed their own custom witty saying.  I felt the rage, it has now been fixed.

You can’t read the barcodes until they’re on the skin because of the horizontal flip.  Before you do the flip, print out the barcodes on regular paper.  You can read these easily enough.  Then flip the finished barcode sheet over after you’ve printed it and you can match up the barcode with the non-flipped sheet.  Even better if you use your computer monitor as a lightbox.

• Micro Digital Signatures Howto
• Turning Routers into Firewalls
• Barcode Hacking
• Barcode Hacking Process
• Because Life Isn’t Random Enough

I’m curtailing my blog for a couple of weeks.  I’m busy helping out with Haiti.

I spent last Saturday at CrisisCamp DC.  It’s a barcamp-style hackathon to build applications to help relief workers in Haiti.  Think long-range wifi routers to network the country where the infrastructure is destroyed.  Think a website for quake survivors to tell their story.  Think a Craiglist for relief workers where somebody with an oxygen generator and  somebody with a power supply can get together and make something that helps both of them.  Think all of these created in an 8-hour development stint.

Yes, security folks, you can help.  Not only that, but you have the technical skills to get web apps stuff done and the project management experience to lay out what it is that needs to be done.

We’re holding another CrisisCamp in DC this Saturday the 30th.

Go to crisiscommons.org and look for a project that interests you or a local camp.

Here, let Andy Carvin break it all down “Big Bird Style”:

Movie by @Digiphile, Alex Howard from SearchCompliance.com.  Hopefully I didn’t just “out” him.  =)

• It’s Not Just for the Feds Anymore
• Opportunity Costs and the 20 Critical Security Controls
• Privacy Camp DC–April 17th
• SCAP for Dummies
• Working with Interpreters, a Risk Manager’s Guide

A little bit on the oddball side this week (versus every week, maybe not so oddball), but we’re offering up some lolcats and a QR Code.  Not only is this fun but it’s useful if you’re a forgetful person like our ikanhazfizma lolcats.

If none of this makes sense to you, go check out my barcode post and presentation from earlier this week for info and how to get your very own QR reader.

• Redundant Lolcats
• Lolcats, Capital Hill, and a Haiku
• IKANHAZFIZMA and Transparency
• Lolcats Coming to you from the Cloud
• Lolcats Protect the End Users

A little presentation I did for NoVA Hackers.  Basic intent was to be more workshop than something more formal and to give everybody the tools to do their own experimentation at home.

I even inspired Jack to write a blog post.

Caveat: this has nothing to do with FISMA or Government InfoSec.  =)

Links in the Presentation:

• Zint
• ZXing
• BeeTagg
• Other Readers

Links of interest:

• Code 128
• QR Code
• Data Formatting Fun

• Save a Kitten, Write SCAP Content
• DojoCon 2009 Presentation
• QR Code Temporary Tattoos Howto
• Barcode Hacking Process
• The Accreditation Decision and the Authorizing Official

They’re “armed”, they’re “dangerous”, and they’re “right around the corner”, depending on who you talk to.

• Cyber-FEMA LOLCATS Prepare for Cyber-Katrina
• IKANHAZFIZMA’s take on Security Appliances
• IKANHAZFIZMA Tackles the Consensus Audit Guidelines
• LOLCATS, CISOs, and Horror Stories
• Oh to be a Program Manager

While our Guerilla-CISO heroes most likely will not be going to Shmoocon due to that “work thing” that always gets in the way, we will be sending a legion of LOLCATS to play.

• LOLCATS Take on MS08-67
• Lolcats Coming to you from the Cloud
• Lolcats Protect the End Users
• Guerilla CISO Goes Back to Work
• Lolcats and QR Codes