Hands-on: Blue Hydra can expose the all-too-unhidden world of Bluetooth http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/09/hands-on-blue-hydra-can-expose-the-all-too-unhidden-world-of-bluetooth/
Despite their "Low Energy" moniker, BTLE devices are constantly polling the world even while in "sleep" mode. And while some Bluetooth devices use randomized media access control (MAC) addresses, they advertise other data that is unique to each device, including a universally unique identifier (UUID). As a result, if you can tie a specific UUID to a device by other means, you can track the device and its owner. By using the Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), you can get a sense of how far away they are. That information can be used, for good or ill, to generate movement data about the people who carry those devices--and to watch for devices that appear when they shouldn't. "I have an alert set up for when my mother-in-law's car pulls into range," Pwnie's Rick Farina told Ars, as he gave us a walk-through of the tool. "It gives me about a 30-second warning." - - - --Lauren-- Care About Science and Tech? Our Job One: STOP TRUMP: https://vortex.com/stop-trump - - - Lauren Weinstein (lau...@vortex.com): https://www.vortex.com/lauren Lauren's Blog: https://lauren.vortex.com Founder: Network Neutrality Squad: https://www.nnsquad.org PRIVACY Forum: https://www.vortex.com/privacy-info Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: https://www.pfir.org/pfir-info Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Google+: https://google.com/+LaurenWeinstein Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 I have consulted to Google, but I am not currently doing so -- my opinions expressed here are mine alone. - - - The correct term is "Internet" NOT "internet" -- please don't fall into the trap of using the latter. It's just plain wrong! _______________________________________________ nnsquad mailing list https://lists.nnsquad.org/mailman/listinfo/nnsquad