In a world moving more towards digital technology all around us, safety and online safety is becoming a more prominent concern. But now, even sounds aren’t safe as researchers managed to hack into smartphones using ultrasonic waves passed through a table, on which a smartphone was laying.
This was achieved by a team at Washington University St Louis. The members of the project guided ultrasonic waves to trick the voice assistant into performing various tasks. For those unaware, smartphones are capable of detecting such sounds/vibrations at frequencies inaudible to general humans. Through this, the team managed to make calls, take pictures, adjust volume and even get the passwords via text messages.
The most notable aspect of the entire process was that the device was not accessed via a common network or physical connection. Rather, it was just kept on a table. So, even keeping it on a flat surface is now a dangerous thing, including flat surfaces made out of glass, wood, and metal. The researchers achieved this by attaching a microphone and piezoelectric transducer to the bottom of the table.
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This allowed them to generate a waveform near the device to reproduce relevant signals. The software used has dubbed as the Surfing Attack software and researchers found that 15 of the 17 total smartphones are affected by this exploit. The handsets were from different brands and included Google, Motorola, Samsung, Xiaomi, and Apple models.
Thus, the researchers concluded by stating methods to protect your devices from such attacks. With the foremost solution being, using a thicker case to cover the smartphone. This makes it harder for the hack to occur in the first place. A cover like a tablecloth on the table or the flat surface also works against the hack. Turning off lock screen personal results on Android devices helps prevent this as well.
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(Via)
