Sound as an Attack Surface Area

July 29, 2015

Source: The Internet Of Sound | TechCrunch >

Basically, small speakers can transfer information from one device to another, at various ranges, at frequencies that humans cannot detect. It’s another medium for information transfer, using sound.

It’s fascinating, and it brings a few things to mind for me.

  • It’s local technology, which I find interesting for applications like Universal Daemonization >, where they need to work within X number of feet

  • Spoofing will be an issue, as many vendors will assume obscurity protects them. Attackers will capture, replay, and reverse engineer sounds to allow them to manipulate systems

  • Saturation will become an issue as there are thousands of devices broadcasting in one area. This could become a safety issue as well, with sound being sound even if it’s not audible

  • Countermeasures are interesting. What happens when you inject false sound to confuse receivers. Or blast across all used ranges to disable communication?

I think it’s really interesting. It’s a whole new (but counterintuitive and hidden) surface for attack that it’s time we start paying attention to.

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