UAV hackers

Now self-propelled flying devices can be used to retrieve bank account details and passwords, after a group of hackers access 150 mobile phones within 1 hour via a wifi connection.

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Along with the rapid development of technology and mobile devices, obsession with hackers is becoming more and more serious. And the latest threat comes from a tool that is promising to be widely used soon in home delivery: self-propelled (UAV) devices.

Recently, a group of hackers have used the small size UAVs to capture information of transactions made via smartphones (smartphones), including codes on Amazon online shopping site, details bank and address of individuals. The infiltration is very likely to become a new type of crime of the century; It is also an experiment that shows that UAV can be used to connect to the wifi installation system and retrieve valuable information.

Self-propelled flying equipment can be taken advantage of as a hacker tool - (Photo: Digital Trends)

CNN reported that the experiment was being carried out in London and the white-hat hackers will share their findings at the Black Hat Asia Network Security Conference held in Singapore this week. Accordingly, the self-propelled flying device called Snoopy looks for smartphones that turn on wifi connections. Next, it uses the built-in technology on the aircraft which allows to review the systems that phones have accessed in the past. In theory, almost any UAV can be adjusted to take on this "stealing" task.

London-based Glenn Wilkinson, a security expert, said Snoopy took advantage of the common characteristics of today's generation of phones, always checking the information of the Wi-Fi network that he used to access before. . While the smartphone was busy 'screaming' the name of each system it was connected to, the Snoopy flying device was nearby and signaled to fake a specific wifi system, and the phone set up. ie think it is accessing trusted wifi network. However, once the 'cricket' connects to its network, Snoopy will block all information sent and received by the phone using a sophisticated method designed by Sensepost.

Expert Wilkinson briefly explained: 'Your phone connects to me and so I see all traffic coming in and out of the device'. Based on this principle, hackers can know which website the phone owner accesses, whatever credit card information is entered or stored, location, username and of course the password. If you fall into the wrong hands, the victim will quickly be stolen away from the money in the account without understanding why. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique, Wilkinson spent an hour explaining the CNN program about how Sensepost could get the system name and GPS information of any 150 smartphones in London.

While collecting metadata and system names is often not illegal, ciphering and credit card details as well as the purpose of using this information are acts that go against the law. . And the UAV seems to be a bigger threat than remote hackers because they can hover near potential prey with high mobility. However, this technology could also become a useful tool for law enforcement forces, such as identifying vandals in a street conflict. In the short term, smartphone users can protect themselves by turning off wifi signals when not in use, or only accessing websites with high safety.