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Hackers Beat Keurig’s Coffee-Pod-Verification System With Scissors and Some Tape

It was only a few months ago that Keurig, the pod-coffee-brewing-machine-maker, announced it was releasing a machine that only brewed Keurig-brand coffee pods. The 2.0s rolled out this fall, and while latte-loving hackers had vowed to dismantle the company’s Digital Rights Management-enabled machines and keep coffee pods open source, there is evidently a far simpler workaround that doesn’t require coding skills or a degree in electrical engineering. All you need is one approved K-Cup and some office supplies.

Even if you don’t drink K-Cup coffee, the Star Wars music should be a clue that this is potentially big — the hack even has its own dedicated website, KeurigHack.com. If the claims are to be believed, the $200 machine can be tricked into brewing non-approved coffee just by reusing the foil-topped lids from a pod the machine recognizes and lining up the puncture holes. Billions of dollars of proprietary coffee pod money is potentially on the line, as is fancy instant coffee in restaurants. Tomato soup and postapocalyptic hypernutritional slurries, too, while we’re at it. The best part of waking up, it turns out, is spoofing your K-Cup.

[Wired]

Hackers Beat Keurig’s Coffee-Pod-Verification System With Scissors and