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Laptops And Flat Panels Now Vulnerable to Van Eck Methods

Posted by Zonk on from the i-seee-you dept.

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.'"

6 of 144 comments (clear)

  1. An ounce of prevention by L.+VeGas · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.
    --
    Best Windows Freeware
  2. Bypassing DRM by harry666t · · Score: 5, Funny

    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?

  3. less social intelligence than a 13 year old by circletimessquare · · Score: 5, Funny

    "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?"

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  4. BEHOLD ! I am TEMPEST, they LORD and MASTER by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny



    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 !!!

  5. At last! by ThanatosMinor · · Score: 5, Funny

    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...

  6. The Offical Howto by pak9rabid · · Score: 5, Funny

    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