New hacking techniques and new features
Traditionally, hacking has been associated with the world of computers and telecommunications networks. Although cyber warfare is now expanding into wearables and the Internet of Things, it is still based on information technology - software and code. However, it turns out that the latest methods allow to overcome this barrier.
Recently, scientists at the University of Michigan have found a new way use of sound interfere with devices containing accelerometers for measuring acceleration, installed, for example, in smartphones (1). Earlier research has shown that the accelerometers themselves can also be used for surveillance - they can be turned into a microphone or used to track keystrokes on a smartphone. We wrote about such patterns of user behavior recently in MT. Thus, hacked accelerometers can be used to hack systems. The risk is high because accelerometers are also often used in medical equipment, for example, to measure substances such as doses of drugs dosed in a patient's drip or in pacemakers. In industrial plants, they, in turn, are used to measure the consumption of chemicals or fuels.
Visualization of acoustic waves hacking a smartphone
A powerful sound wave can be used to confuse the control system and disable it. Imagine that a swarm of drones are flying over a given area, emitting strong sound waves. They could disrupt all local accelerometers, effectively causing a mass outage of services.
Sound waves can be used not only to interfere with the operation of devices, but also to data theft. It turns out that by analyzing noise from electronic equipment, . Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the US found that by listening to the sounds made by the user's keyboard, they can determine passwords for accessing devices. To the human ear, each keystroke sounds the same, but actually creates a unique sound frequency pattern. Using several well-placed microphones to measure the difference in time and amplitude of the received sound pulses, and knowing the geometry of the keyboard, the researchers were able to identify the keys pressed.
You can also see hidden data by analyzing the device's radio signals and even changing its power. Recently, a group of scientists showed that it is possible to detect the movement of the hands of a user working on his equipment, and thus, for example, reveal a password by registering the reflection of signals from a local Wi-Fi network. Another team has found a way to analyze changes in electricity in eight of the most popular types of mobile phone SIM cards and thus extract their encryption keys.
DNA - a new horizon of cyber warfare?
He is knocking on the door with all the disturbing consequences - threats to DNA and the brain. The growing integration of humans with machines and the so-called singularity means new space for the less good.
In 2017, a group of American scientists at the University of Washington in Seattle injected malware into a DNA sample. With the help of such a prepared sequence of genetic code, they managed to attack a computer that analyzed this genetic material, and then take control of it (2). The results of the experiment were presented at the USENIX security conference. The authors of the experiment, Lee Organic, Carl Kosher, and Peter Ney, argue that this attack path could be used in the future by biohackers to cover up crime trails in police databases or even for large-scale bioterrorism.
When creating the virus, the researchers found three flaws in DNA sequencing software — potential security holes that biohackers could similarly exploit. Commenting on this very famous event in the world, experts note that it is another confirmation of the potential that the DNA code has when it comes to storing and transmitting data.
A Chinese scientist claims to have created the world's first genetically modified children. This had to be done with the CRISPR/Cas9 tool. The hospital where the babies were born says they didn't do any gene editing. Apart from the fact that the reports of the Chinese are credible (because many doubt it), the case opens up a big discussion not only about ethics, but also about the genetic safety of people. Because if you can code, you can also hack and hack and implement genetics.
Access to the brain
A few months ago, the South China Morning Post reported that some factories in China were monitoring workers' brainwaves and analyzing their emotional changes to improve performance.
The production line of the Hangzhou Zhongheng Electric plant in Central and East China is no different. Meanwhile, the caps worn by the factory workers have been fitted with advanced telecommunications equipment. brain wave sensors. According to their testimony, managers adjust the pace of the team's work, as well as the duration and frequency of breaks in order to reduce mental stress and increase efficiency, SCMP writes, citing company information.
Brain sensors are also being used by a subsidiary of China's largest electricity supplier, the State Grid Corporation of China.
«Smart protective caps"They are also used in high-speed trains on the Beijing-Shanghai route," People's Daily reported in 2015. According to Shanghai-based manufacturer Diyi, sensors built into rail caps are capable of detecting fatigue and loss of vigilance with up to 90 percent accuracy and possibly triggering an alarm to wake up a sleeping driver.
Despite the potential benefits, some experts are critical of emotion monitoring technology. After all, constant surveillance of the brain could take privacy violations to a whole new level, warned Qiao Zhian of Beijing Normal University. Not to mention the ability to hack the brain (3) and the use of the obtained data. Almost at the same time, the media reported that a new tool had been developed at the University of California at Berkeley that allowed the human brain to be manipulated to a limited extent. Scientists have created the so-called holographic brain modulator. It creates projections that activate or deactivate specific neurons. At the moment, the creators indicate that the new technology will make it easier for patients to control the prostheses of the lower or upper limbs.
During the experiments, scientists from Berkeley used the brains of mice and focused on a group of 2 to 3 thousand. neurons. To control them, a specially designed protein was added to these brain cells using optogenetics. The researchers then used computer-generated holography, which managed to focus light on only a selected group of neurons, leaving the rest of the cells untouched.
The next step is to improve the technology, which is currently very cumbersome and can only affect neurons in the outer layer of the brain. A future, improved version of the invention is likely to be able to influence deep neurons, for example, not only by “implanting” false sensations, but also by editing memory and turning off pain sensations.
In addition to emerging "mind-reading" abilities, there are also opinions that their development is instead left to the slow and random process of natural selection. Perhaps this will allow us to take control of evolution so that our species can cope with the challenges that we will inevitably face? Or maybe, on the contrary, it will be used to breed individuals programmed for obedience?
Neuroscientist Tara Swart told Futurism.com a year ago that the next generation of brain-connected devices could bring, for example, chips implanted in the human body that automatically pay for purchases, or devices that allow us to modulate our mood or concentration and eliminate actions. that are considered harmful. These perspectives will give you thrills without even adding any imaginable hacks.
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