Do you think your offline computer is safe? Smartwatches can secretly listen to it with ultrasonic signals
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- Smartwatches can soon be the latest tool to break even the most secure computer
- Ultrasone signals are invisible to us, but can transport secrets from Air-Happed Machines
- Smartattack depends on rare circumstances, but the possibility proves that no system is always completely safe
A new research paper sets an unusual method for data exfiltration of Air-Happy systems using smartwatches.
The concept, made by researchers from Ben-Gurion University, sounds like something from a espionage sheller, but the details show how technically complex and scary such an attack would be.
The method, called “Smartattack”, is based on operating the microphone of a compromised smartwatch to receive ultrasonic signals from an infected Air-Happ computer.
The role of malware and portable technology
These ultrasonic transmissions work between 18 and 22 kHz, just above the reach of humans, and may contain data such as test attacks or biometric information for a maximum of 50 bits per second about distances of at least six meters.
To make each part of the attack work, several difficult steps must already be completed.
First, malware must be implanted on the Air-Happ system, which is a challenge itself. As the authors point out, such malware can be due to “supply chain attacks, insider threats or infected removable media.”
Once installed, the malware naturally harvests sensitive data and codes it in ultrasonic audio signals. However, sending those signals is only half the comparison.
On the receiving side, a smartwatch, also infected with malware, must be within the right range and the orientation to tackle the ultrasonic transmissions.
Paper -author Mordecai Guri, PhD, described smartwatches as “an underexposed but effective attack vector”, and notes that the devices are also subject to unpredictable movement because they are worn on the wrist, reducing the reliability of the reception.
The smartwatch would then use its connectivity functions, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or even e-mail, to return the data to the attacker.
This order may be possible in tightly controlled experiments, but the implementation of the Real-World would be considerably more difficult.
Although the article is hypothetical, it does raise real questions about whether current cyber security tools, such as the Dear Antivirus or Software for end point protectionare equipped to detect or defend such indirect and unconventional threats.
For organizations that use Air-Happed networks to protect sensitive information, traditional protections may not be sufficient.
Likewise, while the Best protection of the best identity theft Tools are effective against well -known threat vectors, this kind of secret channel uses hardware and environments in ways that may not expect existing solutions.
The paper recommends more advanced defense, including ultrasonic jamming, real -time signal monitoring and even ultrasonic firewalls.
However, the usability of such measures, in particular in environments with limited resources, remains uncertain.
That said, as with many academic demonstrations, the Real-World threat is more about potential than probability.
By Tomshardware
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