Though you're living in the age of technological marvels, this current era is not without its difficulties. For example, you don't have to worry about getting eaten by a saber-toothed tiger. But you do have to worry about someone breaking into your smartphone to read all of your intimate text messages. These are the trade-offs.
On that note, computer security researchers from the Universities of Michigan and South Carolina demonstrated on Tuesday how a vulnerability in tiny accelerometers that are the norm in modern-day phones, health monitors, and cars, can allow them to take control of (or influence) those devices. This becomes an especially unnerving fact with the age of self-driving cars quickly approaching.
The team described in their research paper how they were able to control those accelerometers by doing things like faking steps on a Fitbit, and playing what they called a "malicious" music file on the smartphone. Those moves enabled them to mess with the software that relies on the phone. "It’s like the opera singer who hits the note to break a wine glass, only in our case, we can spell out words," said U of Michigan associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science Kevin Wu, one of the paper's authors. "You can think of it as a musical virus."
Now it may shock many of you to learn that I am not a computer security researcher. And so, I'll leave it to the New York Times to explain what accelerometers are, and why they're important:
Accelerometers are instruments that measure acceleration and are frequently manufactured as silicon chip-based devices known as microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS. Accelerometers are used for navigating, for determining the orientation of a tablet computer and for measuring distance traveled in fitness monitors such as Fitbits.
In the case of the toy car [used in the study], the researchers did not actually compromise the car’s microprocessor, but they controlled the car by forcing the accelerometer to produce false readings. They exploited the fact that a smartphone application relies on the accelerometer to control the car.
They also go on to say this can have far more serious consequences than taking control of a toy car or Fitbit in a world where day-to-day life is increasingly dependent upon computers. For example, Dr. Fu researched the risks that could be associated with medical technology, including a demonstration on the potential of pumping fatal heart rhythms into a pacemaker wirelessly.
The full paper from the team will be presented in April in Paris at the IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy. Book your flight now.
