Hacking brainwaves now a reality
Researchers from the University of Oxford, Berkeley, and the University of Geneva, have found that brainwaves can be monitored to deduce critical information.
Using a popular consumer-grade EEG headset, the researchers were able to work out digits of PIN numbers, birth months, areas of residence and other personal information.
They did this by presenting 30 headset-wearing subjects with images of ATM machines, debit cards, maps, people, and random numbers in a series of experiments.
To detect the first digit of the PIN, researchers presented the subjects with numbers from 0 to 9, flashing on the screen in random order, one by one. Each number was repeated 16 times, over a total duration of 90 seconds. The subjects’ brainwaves were monitored for telltale peaks that would rat them out.
“The correct answer was found by the first guess in 20% of the cases for the experiment with the PIN, the debit cards, people, and the ATM machine,” write the researchers. “The location was exactly guessed for 30% of users, month of birth for almost 60% and the bank based on the ATM machines for almost 30%.”
Source: On the Feasibility of Side-Channel Attacks with Brain-Computer Interfaces
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