Breaking into IoT Security: My Review of the Practical IoT Pentest Associate (PIPA)
If you are looking to pivot into the world of Internet of Things (IoT) security or hardware hacking, the landscape can feel a bit daunting…
If you are looking to pivot into the world of Internet of Things (IoT) security or hardware hacking, the landscape can feel a bit daunting…
If you are looking to pivot into the world of Internet of Things (IoT) security or hardware hacking, the landscape can feel a bit daunting. Between soldering irons, logic analyzers, and complex firmware, it’s hard to know where to start.
I recently completed the Practical IoT Pentest Associate (PIPA) certification from TCM Security, and I wanted to share my experience, specifically focusing on the course content, the hardware, and what the exam is actually like.
The Course Content: Truly Beginner Friendly
The PIPA certification is based on the Beginner’s Guide to IoT and Hardware Hacking course. Coming into this, I was looking for something that started from ground zero, and this course delivered.
One of the highlights for me was the Electrical Engineering Refresher. If you haven’t touched physics since high school, or if concepts like voltage, resistance, and Ohm’s Law are fuzzy, the course does a fantastic job of breaking these down before you ever touch a circuit board.
The syllabus covers the full lifecycle of an IoT assessment:
- Electrical Fundamentals: Resistors, capacitors, UART, and SPI.- Recon & OSINT: FCC ID lookups and datasheet analysis and attack surface mapping.- Firmware Analysis: Extraction, analysis, and reverse engineering.
You can actually watch the first 9 hours of the course for free on YouTube here.
To Buy or Not to Buy the Hardware?
Here is the biggest takeaway from my experience: I did not buy the physical hardware kit, but I highly recommend that you do.
The course revolves around hacking a specific TP-Link router. The instructors provide a list of equipment (router, jumper wires, USB-to-TTL adapter, etc.) but mark it as optional.
I chose to complete the course by watching the videos and focusing purely on the software side of things. While I was able to follow along and understand the concepts, I missed out on the tactile satisfaction and “muscle memory” of actually hooking up a UART connection or probing pins.
If you have the budget, buy the lab equipment. It will make the logic analyzer and soldering sections much more engaging.
The Software Tools
Since I didn’t have the physical router, I doubled down on practicing with the software tools introduced in the curriculum. The course relies on industry-standard, open-source tools.
I spent most of my time getting comfortable with:
- Ghidra: Essential for firmware reverse engineering. You’ll need to be comfortable decompiling binaries, tracing function calls, and identifying unsafe patterns like command injection or weak crypto.- PulseView (Sigrok): Used for analyzing logic analyzer capture files. Even without capturing signals yourself, the course provides real UART and SPI captures that you can decode to uncover boot logs, credentials, and hidden messages.
The Exam Experience
The PIPA exam is a practical, hands-on assessment, not a CTF.
You’re given:
- 2 days to perform the assessment- 2 additional days to write a professional report
The difficulty was exactly what I expected based on the training. TCM Security is known for “teaching what is on the test,” and PIPA was no exception. There were no curveballs or “gotcha” questions.
I did not practice anything outside of the provided course materials. I simply followed the methodology discussed in the videos — from reconnaissance to exploitation.
The Exam Report
This isn’t a CTF where you just grab a flag. You are performing a realistic assessment; it’s about communicating risk. My final report was a comprehensive document including an executive summary, a severity matrix, and detailed technical breakdowns for every finding.
You don’t need to overthink the report structure — TCM Security provides a clear outline for the report, including the major sections they expect to see. As long as you follow their template and clearly communicate risk and impact, you’re on the right track.
Another tip that helped a lot: during the first two days of the exam, when you have access to the Virtual Machine, I took extensive screenshots and saved all relevant evidence. Once the VM access ends and you move into the report-writing phase, you no longer have the environment available. Having screenshots of commands, output, and findings made writing the report during the final two days significantly easier and far less stressful.
The Secret Weapon: Course Notes
TCM Security provided a PDF of the course notes. Do not ignore this.
During the exam, this notes was my lifeline. Because I hadn’t practiced on physical hardware, having the detailed documentation on command syntax, specific tool usage, and methodology steps was incredibly helpful. They are well-organized and concise.
Final Verdict
If you are on the fence about the PIPA, I say go for it. It is an affordable, approachable entry point into hardware hacking.
My advice to future students:
- Get the hardware: Get the router and wires to get the full experience.- Trust the methodology: The exam rewards a structured approach.- Master the tools: Spend extra time in Ghidra and PulseView.
Happy Hacking!
If you have any questions, drop them in the comments. I’m happy to help!