Network World released this article a week ago about new applications for currently existing technology and how it can be used to steal data in a way you wouldn’t think of. My comments are in bold italics.
If attackers intent on data theft can tap into an electrical socket near a computer or if they can draw a bead on the machine with a laser, they can steal whatever is being typed into it.
This makes pretty much EVERY computer out there a potential target.
How to execute these attacks will be demonstrated at the Black Hat USA 2009 security conference in Las Vegas later this month by Andrea Barisani and Daniele Bianco, a pair of researchers for network security consultancy Inverse Path.
The Black Hat conference is something I’ve always wanted to attend, but sadly have never had the time to.
“The only thing you need for successful attacks are either the electrical grid or a distant line of sight, no expensive piece of equipment is required,” Barisani and Bianco say in a paper describing the hacks.
Anyone can MacGuyver their way into being major data thieves.
The equipment to carry out the power-line attack could cost as little as $500, and the laser attack gear costs about $100 if the attacker already owns a laptop with a sound card, says Barisani. Carrying out the attacks took about a week, he says.
It makes sense that the power-line attack equipment would be more expensive, the laser gear seems to work on laser bounce principles. Similar to how those listening devices work. Although this seems highly less reliable to me than the electrical version.
More and more as people are getting different implants for things (like the folks who get magnets implanted in their pinkies so they can be living compasses), I’m wondering if you couldn’t learn how to do this mentally after getting some kind of electro-receptive implant put into you.
Read the whole article HERE
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