It Looks Like a School Bathroom Smoke Detector. A Teen Hacker Showed It Could Be an Audio Bug
1 min read
Summary
Teen hackers have discovered numerous security vulnerabilities in Motorola subsidiary iPVideo Corporation’s “smart” smoke detectors, allowing them to be exploited to turn the devices into real-time audio eavesdropping bugs.
The detectors in question, known as Halo 3Cs, have already been installed in schools and public housing units, raising the prospect that hackers could target unwitting students or residents.
In marketing material, Motorola highlights the microphones’ quality and the fact that the devices can be used to listen in on people’s conversations.
Following the discovery of the vulnerabilities, the company has developed a firmware patch to close the loopholes, which will be rolled out automatically by Friday.
However, one of the hackers, who uses the pseudonym Nyx, argued the underlying issue of the devices’ microphones would remain unaddressed.
“The unfortunate reality is there’s a microphone connected to a computer that’s connected to the network,” Nyx said.
“And there’s no software patching that will make that not possible to use as a listening device.
