A group of Uruguayan scientists has shown that it is possible to “see” what is happening on the screen intercepting electromagnetic radiation imaging cables if we use AI (artificial intelligence) specially trained to interpret the signals produced by said radiation.

This technique isn’t really new, at least not in its essence, because it’s basically a a more advanced version of the one used in the analog era take advantage of the leaks that have occurred in the cables. These leaks were much more intense and simpler than those now obtained from HDMI cables, and therefore did not require the use of AI to interpret them.

Despite all the improvements and advances that have occurred over the years, digital signals from HDMI cables They still filter some of the electromagnetic radiation when there is communication between the monitor and our PC, and these small leaks are used to “see” what is happening on the screen.

AI converts electromagnetic radiation into text

In order to achieve this, the artificial intelligence must be trained with a sufficient number of samples, because otherwise it would not have a sufficient basis to carry out the inference process and correctly interpret the signals. These samples consist of different HDMI signals extracted from this filtered electromagnetic radiation.

Once properly trained, the AI ​​is able to interpret signals and translate them into text with 70% accuracy. That said, the process isn’t perfect, but it’s good enough to decipher almost everything that’s happening on the screen that’s being captured.

This technology could be used as an espionage method to capture things as important as passwords, personal and financial data and even crack encrypted communications with minimal effort.

According to scientists, this capture system significantly improves the success of previous methods and achieves 60% increase in accuracy level compared to previous techniques. They also noted that these types of attacks are already being used against government agencies as well as industrial facilities to steal secrets and sensitive information.

The most effective way to protect against these types of attacks is equipment shielding to prevent electromagnetic leakagesomething that can be quite expensive but can end up being the most profitable in certain sectors and levels.

AI generated cover image.