Skip to main content

Hackers can control your smartphone using sound waves from a $5 speaker

hackers sound waves accelerometer speaker
Hackers are developing new and improved ways to take control of your devices. The latest? Apparently, it’s by using sound waves.

Researchers have come up with a new way to hack all kinds of different devices and it’s a pretty complex system that basically imitates micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) accelerometers — which is a chip in your device that lets phones and trackers know when they are moving and how quickly.

Related Videos

You would expect the system to use some pretty impressive tech, right? On the contrary, the hackers simply used a $5 speaker, which was able to blast as many as 20 different accelerometers from five different manufacturers with sound waves. Those frequencies were able to trick the sensors in devices like smartphones into doing a range of different things. Accelerometers are basically sensors suspended on a few different springs, and when the sound waves reach the chip, it moves — just like what would happen when you move.

“It’s like the opera singer who hits the note to break a wine glass, only in our case, we can spell out words,” Kevin Fu, author of the research paper and professor at the University of Michigan, told the New York Times. “You can think of it as a musical virus.”

So what exactly is the result of the hack? Well, the team was basically able to trick a phone into doing whatever they wanted. Specifically, the team was able to tell the phone to show a video or even control an app that controls a remote control car — all using only sound waves. That’s just the beginning, though — the team notes that if you had an app to start your car using the accelerometer when you shake your phone, you could potentially hack the phone to start the car.

It’s important to note that for now, this is only a proof of concept and it’s unlikely we’ll see hackers walking around with tiny speakers to control your phone. The fact is, however, that hacking methods are getting increasingly creative and complex.

Check out the video below to see the system in action.

Sonic Cyber Attacks on MEMS Accelerometers

Editors' Recommendations

How to protect your smartphone from hackers and intruders
Can cops and hackers track your phone

Having your smartphone hacked feels like someone robbed your house. Your smartphone doesn't just hold your valuables; it signals to intruders which of your valuables are the most important to you. If something is on the phone you always have with you, then by definition, it's meaningful. This massive invasion of privacy is a gross violation of your personal space, and it may take time to figure out what is missing.

Smartphones, small devices that are constantly online sending and receiving signals, are always a target for criminals. To keep your phone and its contents safe and secure, you need to develop a strategy for protecting your personal information. Here are some tips on how to protect your smartphone from hackers and intruders. The examples below are derived from an iPhone 12 Mini running iOS 14.3 and an LG V40 ThinQ running Android 10.
Update your OS and apps

Read more
Can switching to an old, outdated smartphone cure your addiction?
how to set up voicemail on an iPhone

Living with a dumb phone for a week was revelatory for me. The experience underlined how unhealthy my relationship with a smartphone had become. I emerged out of it more mindful about the time I spend staring at a phone and the apps that I allow to hack my attention.

But while I enjoyed the simpler times -- albeit for just a few days, I did miss the comfort of modern apps. Plus, even though I was returning with a fresh perspective on a smartphone’s role in my life, it didn’t take long for those same apps to consume and intoxicate my attention again.

Read more
Hackers demand $6M from largest retail currency dealer in ransomware attack
worlds largest retail currency dealer hit by ransomware attack travelex

Travelex is currently dealing with a ransomware attack that’s forced the company to suspend its online services.

Ransomware locks computer systems by encrypting files, with hackers then demanding payment in exchange for a decryption key. In the case of Travelex, hackers are ordering the London-based firm to cough up cash not only for the decryption key, but also to prevent the publication of various customer data that includes payment card information, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, January 7.

Read more