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Technology

Secure computers can leak data by using speakers to shake smartphones

Computers could transmit highly confidential data even without internet, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth by using their speakers to transmit ultrasonic noise that vibrates nearby smartphones

By Matthew Sparkes

25 August 2022

Image of a person using a smartphone to hack a computerr code in the dark

A computer could use its speakers to make your phone vibrate imperceptibly to transmit data to it

PeopleImages/Getty Images

Sensitive data could be stolen from a secure computer by infecting it with malware that makes its speakers play ultrasonic frequencies to vibrate nearby smartphones, encoding the data in the movement.

“Air-gapped” computers, which often have their Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and internet connections disabled, are commonly used by government security services and key infrastructure control systems to prevent hackers from gaining access remotely. at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, has spent years devising unusual techniques for getting data…

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