How many types of spy devices have you heard about? We all know that with right tools and skills, hackers can turn your webcam into spy a device and see everything you do in front of it. Therefore, that’s the reason why many users put a tape over their webcams, to protect themselves from spying, including Mark Zuckerberg and James Comey.
But how about other types of computer equipment and accessories, like a headphone?
Nowadays, it looks like everything can be turned into spy devices. We aren’t safe at all when having many digital devices in the home, or at the office.
How To Turn Your Headphone Into A Microphone?
According to the result of a researcher from the BGU (Ben Gurion University), it’s possible to hijack your analog headphone and then turn it into a microphone to record sounds around. You might not know that only needs to plug an analog headphone into the audio-in jack, and then it can be turned into a microphone.
Look at the video below to see the process:
In case you didn’t know, an analog headphone converts the electromagnetic signals into vibrations. By that, somehow we can reverse those signals, it will work like a microphone instead of a headphone.
That’s also how a microphone work, to convert audible vibrations into electromagnetic signals. If you want to try out, just plug a pair of headphones (the one that doesn’t have the built-in microphone) into the audio-in jack, and then start to record sounds.
In this test, the research team uses a pair of Sennheiser headphones. The result is that it can record sounds around of you, up to 20-feet in high-quality.
How To Protect Yourself From This Type Of Attacks?
According to what researchers said, this security hole isn’t easy to fix with a software update. The point is that it’s not a bug, but a feature of the Realtek audio chip.
So to resolve this issue 100%, the only way to do is to redesign the chip, produce and implement them in the future mainboards.
For users who are using digital headphones, this type of hacks doesn’t work.
As for analog headphones, if you are paranoid enough, remove your headphone out of your computer when idle. That’s the best way to stay safe.