Paranoid or Prepared? The spies on your desk

Kuv feem ntau tau txais cov lus nug txog vim li cas kuv thiaj li muaj daim ntawv nplaum ntawm lub teeb pom kev zoo ntawm kuv lub laptops thiab xov tooj. Qee tus neeg xav tias kuv tsis paub qhov sib txawv ntawm lub teeb sensor thiab lub koob yees duab thiab sim piav qhia tias qhov no tsis yog lub koob yees duab. What they don’t know is that ambient light sensors can be used with machine learning methods to extract data like they are weak cameras.

I generally hear from people: “But we have nothing to hide!” Well, you have more to hide than you think, and your data can be combined with other data collected from you elsewhere to produce intelligence at a level you can’t even imagine possible. Thiab cov neeg uas sau cov ntaub ntawv tsis tas yuav ua nrog lub hom phiaj zoo. Koj cov ntaub ntawv tuaj yeem sau los ntawm cov neeg ua yeeb yam sib txawv, txheeb xyuas siv AI, thiab siv rau ntau lub hom phiaj thiab motives.

Hauv cybersecurity, Peb xav tias yog tias ib hom kev tawm tsam ua tau thiab muaj lub sijhawm los nqa nws, tom qab ntawd yuav muaj lub siab xav ua qhov kev tawm tsam zoo li no. Peb tsis xav tias cov neeg uas tuaj yeem sau cov ntaub ntawv ib txwm muaj qhov laj thawj raug cai los ua li ntawd. Peb kuj tsis xav tias tsuas yog ib tog neeg lossis ib qho chaw tuaj yeem siv qhov tsis muaj zog los sau cov ntaub ntawv ntawd.

Hauv qab no yog cov npe ntawm lwm yam uas tuaj yeem siv los soj xyuas koj uas koj yuav tsis paub tias muaj peev xwm zoo li no.

Koj tus hais lus hauv TV tuaj yeem mloog koj

I am one of those who usually choose a TV model without a microphone or camera before I need to physically remove those devices. I also have a home firewall and a secured internal network, but I have learned throughout the years not to only rely on logical controls. However, based on a WikiLeaks release in 2017 Thiab documents from 2014, the CIA (in cooperation with MI5) turned speakers in certain TV models into microphones to collect data. They even developed a fake off mode to show that the TV is off when they collect those conversations. If you think your TV might listen to your conversation, it is better to unplug it when not in use. It also saves you some energy because plugged devices even while not in use may consume some electricity.

Your tablet or laptop light sensor can capture your hand or your image

I always adjust screen light manually, and I believe I have a good reason for that.

The ambient light sensor is used to measure the amount of light and to adjust the brightness of the screen. Ambient light sensors can be used to capture images or keystrokes to steal passwords and data. A group of MIT researchers recently created a proof of concept by using an Android tablet’s hand gestures captured by the ambient light sensor to capture touch interactions.

Your mouse may listen to your conversation

This one is outrageous! A mouse doesn’t have a microphone or even a speaker to be turned into a microphone to listen to anything. However, there is a side channel attack known as “Mic-E-Mouse” that enables an attacker to listen to your conversations through your mouse.

A high performance gaming mouse (high DPI) can be hijacked by its optical sensor, so when you talk, voice vibrations can be measured with these sensors. Using machine learning algorithms and data from mouse sensors, security researchers can identify intelligible speech from vibrations.

Side channel attacks are a type of physical attack that measures changes in device output while a device performs an action. This type of attack is usually more sophisticated and targets certain assets like encryption keys. However, if an attack method is developed for certain types of devices, it won’t be very difficult to expand it to other similar devices and even automate it.

Motion sensors (gyroscope) can be used to record your voice

Now that we learned your mouse can be used to record your talking, it’s good to know that motion sensors can also be used for the same purpose. This is important as almost all modern smart devices like phones and tablets have a gyroscope or motion sensor. The sensor acts as a vibrating device, making it perfect for side-channel attacks and to capture voice, as sound waves can produce tiny vibrations.

Your hard disk drive (HDD) noise can be captured to steal sensitive data

Now that we’ve learned about side channel attacks, there is a type of attack called DiskFiltration developed by a group of Israeli researchers that can capture sensitive data from the sound of a hard disk drive working. This type of attack is sophisticated and aims at devices with an air gap. Nrog cov khoom siv cua-gapped, Ib qho khoom siv tsis txuas nrog ib lub network zoo li is taws nem thiab feem ntau khaws cia hauv cov chaw ruaj ntseg. Cov khoom siv huab cua tsis tas yuav tiv thaiv kev tiv thaiv cyberattacks. Ib qho piv txwv classic ntawm cov kev tawm tsam zoo li no yog Stuxnet, uas tau tsom Iranian nuclear systems uas tau tag nrho cov huab cua-gapped.

Hauv hom kev tawm tsam no, Ib tus neeg tawm tsam kis tus ntaus ntawv nrog malware uas hloov pauv nws ua haujlwm li cas. Lub malware tuaj yeem nkag mus rau hauv lub kaw lus los ntawm tus neeg nkag los yog los ntawm lwm txoj hauv kev. Tus ntaus ntawv yog huab cua-gapped, yog li cov malware tsis tuaj yeem xa cov ntaub ntawv sab nraud. However, Nws ua rau lub cuab yeej ua haujlwm nyob rau hauv ib txoj kev kom tus tsav caj npab txav mus rau hauv cov qauv tshwj xeeb. A nearby smartphone or device that is not air gapped can be used to capture the sound of the hard disk drive to decode it back to data while it is written or read on disk effectively removing the air gap.

Your computer fan can compromise your data

You have an SSD on your system and don’t use a cheap and noisy HDD. So if your device is air gapped, then sensitive data cannot be exfiltrated. Well! Another group of Israeli researchers invented a method for you. Although your SSD doesn’t have an arm to rotate to make noise like with an HDD, your computer fan can be used to capture sound to compromise sensitive data from your air gapped computer. Hauv hom kev tawm tsam no, malware first infects the air gapped system (perhaps by an intruder to a secured facility), then the speed of the cooling fan will be changed in certain patterns. The sound can transmit the data to a nearby listening device.

WiFi signals can see through your walls

WiFi signals bounce off humans in a room. Researchers can see through walls to know how many people are in the room and identify individuals by movement and posture without needing any camera.