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Hacking Using a LIGHT BULB

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear your device being hacked? We always think of possibilities like weak passwords,  phishing or any malware attacks that may have led to  breach of our personal data. 

But what about an every household essential like a ‘light bulb’ that could be a device for eavesdropping your personal conversations.

Security researchers at Bengurion University of Negev and Weizmann institute of Science in Israel are finding out ways to improve private conversation using a light bulb. Last year the researchers found out that Alexa, Siri, Google Home could be pointing lasers at the device microphones and using this is a method to breach data. 

But, using a light bulb is a more dumb method to tap a user. In this exploit also there are some pre-requisites. The hackers need a clear sight between the electro optical sensor-equipped telescope and the light bulb .So if the curtains of the room with the bulb are drawn or windows are closed then this intrusion cannot happen. 

Another disadvantage of this method is if the light bulb doesn't meet certain requirements like the thickness of the glass or the output of the light then also this method fails. The quality of the intrusion will obviously depend on how close the people are you the light bulb in the room. The researchers were able to monitor the speech and sound from a distance of 80 feet (25 metres) 

The reason why the researchers are devising such a method is because they don't want to compromise a device to launch malware attacks or any other intrusion techniques. 

Keeping all the shortcomings aside, what is your take on this type of hacking? Can it replace the traditional one?

 


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