Laptops And Flat Panels Now Vulnerable to Van Eck Methods

An anonymous reader writes "Using radio to eavesdrop on CRTs has been around since the 80s, but Cambridge University researchers have now shown that laptops and flat-panel displays are vulnerable too. Using basic radio equipment and an FPGA board totaling less than $2,000 it was possible for researchers to read text from a laptop three offices away. 'Kuhn also mentioned that one laptop was vulnerable because it had metal hinges that carried the signal of the display cable. I asked if you could alter a device to make it easier to spy on. "There are a lot of innocuous modifications you can make to maximize the chance of getting a good signal," he told me. For example, adding small pieces of wire or cable to a display could make a big difference.'"

An ounce of prevention

[L. VeGas]

adding small pieces of wire or cable to a display could make a big difference

That's why I always carefully remove all the wires from all my electronics.

Wow

[Shadowlore]

For example, adding small pieces of wire or cable to a display could make a big difference.'"

So adding an antenna makes it broadcast better meaning you can pick it up easier. Shocking. Very useful for remote spying. Step one, add an antenna to the target's display.

Metal hinges?

[Anonymous Coward]

Uh oh, metal hinges pratically imply "ThinkPad"...

But then, it is pretty obvious that using the notebook ungrounded IS asking for trouble anyway as far as signal interference goes, and those hinges are earth-grounded if you have the notebook plugged to wall power using a three-prong power supply.

I think I will keep my ThinkPad instead of using cheezy plastic crap, and use low-contrast, antialiased round fonts if I feel secretive. Must also remember to tape over all network leds, and turn on the loud white-noise generator, as both the sounds of a keyboard and the flickering of the leds can give away way too much information ;-)

Re:An ounce of prevention

[Hoi Polloi]

I keep my laptop under my tinfoil hat. Problem solved.

Bypassing DRM

[harry666t]

Maybe this technique could be used to bypass that DRM stuff and capture movies etc right from the screen, how do you think about it?

less social intelligence than a 13 year old

[circletimessquare]

"i have a friend, ehem, who is worried about this kind of hack, ehem, and i was, i mean he was, wondering what he could do to..."

"guard against it?"

"no, no, what he could do to... um, make sure the 'bad guys' haven't modified his system, ehem, like, what would a bad guy do to make this work better so he could do it, i mean, so he could have an idea of the kind of modifications to look out for?"

Re:Tinfoil Hats!

[n1hilist]

That's just going to make your signal even stronger!

Re:An ounce of prevention

[Anonymous Coward]

That's why I only buy laptops made out of wood and leather. No one's ever Van Eck'd a wooden laptop with leather trim.

Wobbly windows to the rescue!

[HerrEkberg]

So this is what all those fancy 3D desktops are good for. Just set wobbliness and fuzzy effects to max and no one will be able to make sense of what is going on on your screen (including you - trust no one).

BEHOLD ! I am TEMPEST, they LORD and MASTER

[Anonymous Coward]

BEHOLD ! I am TEMPEST, thy LORD and MASTER ! Bow before ME ! Fear ME ! I see ALL*!

*its a bit fuzzy, like snowy tv - BUT I SEE ALL !! FEAR ME !!!

Re:Cryptonomicon?

[v3lut]

I don't mean to alarm you... But Cryptonomicon was, in fact, entirely sci-fi.

Either that, or the vulnerability was because the guy was running Finux. As long as you don't install that you should be fine.

Re:BEHOLD ! I am TEMPEST, they LORD and MASTER

[Tackhead]

> BEHOLD ! I am TEMPEST, thy LORD and MASTER ! Bow before ME ! Fear ME ! I see ALL*!
>
> *its a bit fuzzy, like snowy tv - BUT I SEE ALL !! FEAR ME !!!

Hey, you, get back in that teapot!

I met a man upon a stair,
A little man who wasn't there,
He's reading all our screens today,
I think he works for NSA!

At last!

[ThanatosMinor]

I can spend $2000 to be able to read my laptop that's across the room while I'm still in bed. Now all I need is some sort of glove I can hook up to a robotic arm so it can type for me. Or better yet, I can invent a fing-longer!

Sigh If only they would make a portable version of my laptop...

The Offical Howto

[pak9rabid]

Step one, cut a hole in a box Step two, put your antenna in that box Step three, make her open the box Whoops, scratch that last step

Re:Telling question

[Tumbleweed]

Good point, Agent 11846.