The emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has been accompanied by an equally large increase in security vulnerabilities, jeopardizing end-users and organizations alike. These vulnerabilities trap devices open to a variety of attacks—which in turn destroy data integrity and privacy. In this review research findings are related to exploitation of hardware hacking tools, for uncovering vulnerability factors in IoT devices. It examines common vulnerabilities, the necessity for addressing these security issues and challenges in discovering them. The discussion also spills over into identifying hardware hacking tools, classifying the types of such devices and discussing key tools best suited to track down IoT device weaknesses. It considers the strengths and weaknesses of using these tools and provides illustrative examples of how they have been used effectively, by way of case studies. The result of this review is a publication of guidelines on how to use the hardware hacking tools in ethical, legal, and safety manner.