Lateo.net - Flux RSS en pagaille (pour en ajouter : @ moi)

🔒
❌ À propos de FreshRSS
Il y a de nouveaux articles disponibles, cliquez pour rafraîchir la page.
À partir d’avant-hierArs Technica

Ambient light sensors can reveal your device activity. How big a threat is it?

Par : Dan Goodin
Ambient light sensors can reveal your device activity. How big a threat is it?

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

An overwhelming majority of handheld devices these days have ambient light sensors built into them. A large percentage of TVs and monitors do, too, and that proportion is growing. The sensors allow devices to automatically adjust the screen brightness based on how light or dark the surroundings are. That, in turn, reduces eye strain and improves power consumption.

New research reveals that embedded ambient light sensors can, under certain conditions, allow website operators, app makers, and others to pry into user actions that until now have been presumed to be private. A proof-of-concept attack coming out of the research, for instance, can determine what touch gestures a user is performing on the screen. Gestures including one-finger slides, two-finger scrolls, three-finger pinches, four-finger swipes, and five-finger rotates can all be determined. As screen resolutions and sensors improve, the attack is likely to get better.

Always-on sensors, no permissions required

There are plenty of limitations that prevent the attack as it exists now from being practical or posing an immediate threat. The biggest restrictions: It works only on devices with a large screen, in environments without bright ambient light, and when the screen is displaying certain types of content that are known to the attacker. The technique also can’t reveal the identity of people in front of the screen. The researchers, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, readily acknowledge these constraints but say it’s important for device makers and end users to be aware of the potential threat going forward.

Read 10 remaining paragraphs | Comments

AirTags are the new go-to tool for cops after spike in car thefts

AirTags are the new go-to tool for cops after spike in car thefts

Enlarge (credit: The Washington Post / Contributor | The Washington Post)

After a viral TikTok trend spurred tens of thousands of car thefts this summer, cops in Washington, DC, started realizing that it was much easier to recover stolen vehicles that could be tracked with Apple AirTags.

Because of this, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) rolled out a pilot program this week, doling out free tracking devices to residents in DC areas where cops are seeing "the greatest increase in vehicle theft," according to a press release from the office of DC Mayor Muriel Bowser.

Over the next few days, MPD will hand out the tracking devices—both AirTags and Tiles—at distribution events, where officers will help residents hide the devices in their vehicles and pair the devices to their phones. Residents will be able to choose whether they want an AirTag or a Tile, MPD said, and once the device is installed, only the resident will have access to tracking information as the sole owner of the device, but they will be required to share data with police if their vehicle is stolen.

Read 16 remaining paragraphs | Comments

❌