Cybercriminals can remotely interact with your device using an “invisible finger”

Electromagnetic fields do not get along well with electronic devices, and recent research has shown that this aspect can be exploited by a cybercriminal. to access our device and control it remotely.

And now, researchers at the University of Florida and the University of New Hampshire have reported a so-called “invisible finger” attack at Black Hat USA 2022 in Las Vegas, where a robotic arm and various antenna arrays remotely simulated the attack using science. touching the touch screens of other devices with your fingers.

To do this, various hidden antennas are put into action, indicating the location of the target device, as well as generating an electromagnetic field with precise frequencies to send voltage signals to sensors on the screen so that the processor can later interpret these signals as certain strokes.

With this breakthrough, they were able to simulate taps, long presses, and swipes in any direction across multiple devices.

“It just acts like the finger is doing the job. We can even create an omnidirectional slide on an iPad or Surface. We could make full use of this to open the gesture-based lock.”, explains PhD from the University of Florida and keynote speaker at the conference. Hao Qi Shan.

With this technique, they were able to install malware on an Android phone and were also able to send money via PayPal.

But some tests were thwarted by the inability to activate the system. hitboxes small, like Android dialogs that didn’t work as small buttons.

This is a method that is very difficult for cybercriminals to use. as this would require all elements to be very close to each otherjust a few centimeters.

On the other hand, the cost of equipment is high, with a robotic arm with such characteristics costing several thousand euros, to which various expensive hardware must be added, as well as in-depth knowledge of how exactly and the necessary voltages work to record gestures.

And it’s really only in too short a range because it is only effective within 3 or 4 cmideal for lab work only, but difficult to use in a realistic environment.

He says this is a completely new attack vector that could be improved by cybercriminals in the future, so touchscreen manufacturers should consider implementing different security practices.