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kosta · Member Joined: 09 Aug 2015 Posts: 161 Location: Salonic

Hijacked headphones could be used to listen in on your life
Leaving earbuds plugged into your PC could soon be a security threat.

Fun fact: If you're in a pinch and need a microphone, a spare pair of headphones can do the job. Not so fun fact? A group of researchers at Israel's Ben Gurion University just figured out that those headphones can be hijacked to spy on you. Yeah -- 2016 is scary.

Technically, the group's work doesn't so much hack headphones as it hacks a PC. Researchers created a piece of malware that exploits the audio-jack retasking function of RealTek codecs, the audio technology that comes with most PC motherboards. An attacked computer can remotely be configured to swap the headphone jack for the microphone jack, allowing any headphones that might potentially be plugged in to serve as a microphone -- making it possible to use them as an eavesdropping device. The audio is pretty good, too: in tests done with a pair of Sennheiser headphones, recorded conversation was understandable from up to 20 feet away.
https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/23/hijacked-headphones-could-be-used-to-listen-in-on-your-life/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez3o8aIZCDM

https://www.engadget.com/2016/09/23/the-fbi-recommends-you-cover-your-laptops-webcam-good-reasons/

https://www.engadget.com/tag/sennheiser/

http://mentalfloss.com/article/28130/using-your-headphones-mic