[ISN] How to use electrical outlets and cheap lasers to steal data

From: InfoSec News <alerts_at_private>
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 01:06:28 -0500 (CDT)
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/070909-electrical-data-theft.html

By Tim Greene 
Network World 
07/09/2009 

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.

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 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.

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.

"We think it is important to raise the awareness about these 
unconventional attacks and we hope to see more work on this topic in the 
future," Barisani and Bianco say in their paper. Others with more time 
and money could doubtless create better spying tools using the same 
concepts, they say.

[...]


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Received on Sun Jul 12 2009 - 23:06:28 PDT

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