6 Mission-critical info for UST professionals Platformone Researchers in Canada have developed a UAV that can use wi-fi signals to see through walls (writes Nick Flaherty). The device, nicknamed Wi-Peep, can fly near a building and identify and locate all the wi-fi-enabled devices inside it in a matter of seconds. The Wi-Peep exploits a loophole the researchers call ‘Polite wi-fi’. Even if a network is password protected, smart devices will automatically respond to contact attempts from any device within range. The time-of-flight protocol used by Wi-Peep sends several messages to a device as it flies and then measures the response time for each, enabling it to identify the device’s location to within a metre. “The Wi-Peep devices are like lights in the visible spectrum, and the walls are like glass,” said Dr Ali Abedi, a professor of computer science at the University of Waterloo in Canada. “Using similar technology, one could track the movements of security guards inside a bank by following the location of their phones or smartwatches. Likewise, a thief could identify the location and type of smart devices in a home, including security cameras, laptops and smart TVs, to find a good candidate for a break-in. In addition, the device’s operation via UAV means it can be used quickly and remotely without much chance of the user being detected,” he said. The system is built from a commercial UAV and $20 of easily purchased 2.4 GHz radio detection hardware that weighs 10 g, making it light enough to mount on a UAV. “As soon as the Polite wi-fi loophole was discovered, we realised that this kind of attack was possible,” said Dr Abedi. “On a fundamental level, we need to fix the loophole so that our devices do not respond to strangers. We hope our work will inform the design of nextgeneration protocols.” Airborne vehicles Wi-fi loophole warning December/January 2023 | Uncrewed Systems Technology The Wi-Peep UAV highlights a loophole in wi-fi-enabled devices
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