Security cameras are one of the first lines of defense when it comes to protecting a bank or even your home. But what if these cameras are not as safe as we all think? New research from Northeastern University confirms that there may be a major gap in our security infrastructure, and it’s caused by the devices designed to protect it.

Kevin Fu, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Northeastern University who specializes in cybersecurity, has found a way to eavesdrop on most of today’s cameras, from home security cameras and video recorders to the camera on your phone. The technique, called EM Eye, which stands for Electromagnetic Eye, can capture video in real time from behind walls from another person’s camera. It redefines the idea of ​​Peeping Tom.

According to Fu, anyone with a few hundred dollars’ worth of equipment, a radio antenna, and some engineering knowledge can do it. Fu says the problem is not with the lens, but with the cables in most modern cameras.

“Your typical security camera has a camera lens inside and needs to have something else inside, like a computer chip with a wireless connection to the internet,” Fu says. “Between two different chips inside [цих камер] There are wires and these wires emit electromagnetic radiation. “We take this radio and decode it and get the encoded video in real time.”

A data cable sending video as bits and bytes accidentally acts as a radio antenna transmitting all kinds of electromagnetic information, including those bits and bytes. If someone had the will and the know-how, they could pick up this electromagnetic signal and play silent video in real time. The technique reveals a gap in how manufacturers approach camera design and production.

“The thing about today’s smartphone cameras is that [виробники] We work hard to maintain intentional digital interfaces that are the actual upload channel to the cloud,” says Fu. “They don’t seem to put much effort into leaking information through unsolicited channels. “They never intended for that cable to be a radio transmitter, but it turned out that way.”

The version of the video that Fu and his team received is initially distorted (almost like an x-ray) due to loss of pixels in the transmission process. But using machine learning, Fu and his team were able to edit the video to look much closer to the original.

Fu and his team tested EM Eye on 12 different cameras, including smartphone cameras, video recorders, and home security cameras. Results vary depending on how far away someone has to be to listen to these different devices. For some, the peeping Tom needs to be closer than 1 meter; for others, they may be 16 feet apart.

However, he says that if sufficient technical knowledge is available, expanding this range will take very little time.

“A college sophomore or junior could probably do this, but you would need to acquire electrical and computer engineering skills to go that distance,” Fu says.

More importantly, because EM Eye listens through cables rather than a computer recording images to a hard drive, your camera doesn’t need to actually be recording for someone to eavesdrop.

“If your lens is on, we collect even if you think the camera is off,” says Fu. “In fact, wherever there is a camera, there is a risk that the live feed will be captured in real time by someone about a meter away from the walls.”

For consumers, Fu said it may not be guaranteed that a plastic lens cover will protect you (infrared signals can still pass through), but it’s a good first step in combating these types of cyberthreats.

“Here’s the classic: Be aware of your surroundings,” says Fu. “You may not want to post this [камеру] on the wall you share with your neighbor.”

Fu hopes the findings will be a wake-up call for camera manufacturers.

“It’s nice that we have all this software and these devices, but at the end of the day they’re [випромінюють] Electrons can go out,” says Fu. “If you want to have a full background in cybersecurity, yes, do good science, but if you want to protect against these types of eavesdropping threats, you should also do computer engineering and electrical engineering.”