New York Metropolis’s 2026 mayoral inauguration of Zohran Mamdani has revealed an inventory of banned gadgets for the occasion, particularly prohibiting the Flipper Zero and Raspberry Pi gadgets.
As first reported by Adafruit, the ban listing seems within the inauguration occasion’s official FAQ, which lists gadgets which will or will not be dropped at the occasion.
The listing of prohibited gadgets additionally contains giant luggage, backpacks and duffle luggage, weapons, fireworks or explosives, drones and different remote-controlled aerial gadgets, strollers, coolers, chairs, blankets, umbrellas, bicycles or scooters, alcoholic drinks, unlawful substances, pets apart from service animals, laser pens, and bats or batons.
The Flipper Zero is a handheld system for studying and testing wi-fi communication protocols, together with RFID, NFC, infrared, Bluetooth, and radio indicators. It’s generally utilized by safety researchers, builders, and hobbyists for protocol evaluation and penetration testing.
A Raspberry Pi is a low-cost, general-purpose single-board pc able to operating normal Linux distributions and a variety of software program. Out there in a number of configurations, the gadgets might be expanded utilizing add-on modules and peripherals, enabling them to carry out lots of the identical duties as a desktop or laptop computer pc.
Not like most different gadgets on the prohibited listing, that are grouped into normal classes, each gadgets are particularly named, reasonably than being restricted below a normal computing or wi-fi system class.
Gadgets such because the Flipper Zero have beforehand drawn scrutiny from governments, which have raised considerations about their potential use in automotive theft, community breaches, and different types of cybercrime. In some instances, this has led to proposals to limit or ban the gadgets, as properly as seizures, although deliberate prohibitions have been rolled again.
On-line retailers have additionally banned the system previously, with Amazon prohibiting Flipper Zero listings out of considerations it may very well be used for card skimming.
Nonetheless, the ban of those gadgets from the occasion has induced confusion, as laptops and cell phones are usually not listed among the many prohibited gadgets, regardless of having equal or better technical performance.
“On the listing of prohibited gadgets revealed upfront, along with basic sources of hazard corresponding to firearms, drones, and glass bottles, two gadgets from the IT world are explicitly named: the Raspberry Pi and the Flipper Zero,” safety skilled Stefan Klatt posted on X.
“How do you say that you don’t have any concept with out saying it?”
Trendy laptops can run penetration-testing Linux distributions corresponding to Kali Linux, and smartphones can run superior safety toolsets like Kali NetHunter.
Occasion organizers haven’t offered any particulars explaining why the Flipper Zero and Raspberry Pi have been singled out.
BleepingComputer has contacted the Mamdani marketing campaign’s press workplace for remark and can replace the story if a response is obtained.
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