{"id":11698,"date":"2017-06-10T09:00:03","date_gmt":"2017-06-10T14:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/?p=11698"},"modified":"2017-06-12T14:27:30","modified_gmt":"2017-06-12T19:27:30","slug":"can-smartphone-hacked-sound-waves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/can-smartphone-hacked-sound-waves\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Your Smartphone Be Hacked Through Sound Waves?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hackers have gotten much more creative over the years. From gaining control of smartphones that are offline to creating apps that download phishing software, hackers are using sophisticated methods to control your devices. If you\u2019re concerned that your device might currently be infected with malware, or if you want to simply check on the security of your device, use the Security Scan feature to quickly check your phone for malware:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><center><a href=\"psafe:\/\/launch\/cleanup\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9829\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-9829\" src=\"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/run-security-scan-1-300x67.jpg\" alt=\"run-security-scan\" width=\"300\" height=\"67\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/run-security-scan-1-300x67.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/run-security-scan-1.jpg 353w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/center><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the most surprising \u2014 and potentially very dangerous \u2014 new methods of hacking is hacking smartphones using sound waves. Researchers suggest that a sound wave security flaw could make millions of smartphones, as well as smart devices and even cars, vulnerable to hacking. While learning of yet another way that cybercriminals can steal your information can be unsettling, the best way to protect yourself from attacks is by being informed on the latest threats. The following will answer three of smartphone users\u2019 most pressing questions about sound wave vulnerabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Read More:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/phone-can-hacked-even-offline\/\"><b>Your Phone Can be Hacked Even When It\u2019s Offline<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>How Can Sound Waves Affect Your Phone? <\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sound waves can affect your phone\u2019s accelerometer. An accelerometer is a very small sensor in your phone that helps it to detect movement. This is useful when you\u2019re tilting your phone or counting your steps, for example. Even from a distance, these sensors can be tricked into sensing a fake motion signal. Essentially, if hackers find the right frequency to affect the sensor, the accelerometer will read data that isn\u2019t true to life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Has This Hack Been Reported in the Real World? <\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not yet. Only researchers in labs have been able to exploit the sensors\u2019 vulnerabilities. But in the labs, scientists have been able to manipulate the sensors in many different devices. For example, the researchers took over a music file to make a smartphone add the word \u201cWalnut\u201d to its accelerometer readings and took over an app involving a toy car.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>How Can Hackers Use This Technology? <\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even if you don\u2019t care if hackers add extra steps to your Fitbit, the technology has serious consequences in the real world, especially as we link more and more devices to our smartphones. For example, if shaking your phone were linked to your car\u2019s engine starting up, hackers could start your car remotely. Think about what this would mean on a large scale.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Right now, scientists and policy makers are still considering the implications of these findings. As of now, we don\u2019t necessarily have the features on our phones that could make the hack detrimental. Manufacturers will certainly have to secure these sensors as we connect our smartphones to more and more important objects and devices.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are many surprising ways that hackers can access your smartphone. Perhaps the most surprising is that cyber criminals can hack your phone via sound waves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[301,303,308,312,1853,249,161],"class_list":["post-11698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security","tag-app2","tag-app3","tag-app6","tag-app8","tag-hacked","tag-security","tag-virus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11698\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}