Crafty hackers can make a tool to eavesdrop on some 6G wireless signals in as little as five minutes using office paper, an inkjet printer, a metallic foil transfer and a laminator.

The wireless security hack was discovered by engineering researchers from Rice University and Brown University, who will present their findings and demonstrate the attack this week in San Antonio at ACM WiSec 2022, the Association for Computing Machinery’s annual conference on security and privacy in wireless and mobile networks. [1]

Figure 1. Eavesdroppers can hack 6G frequency with DIY metasurface

Figure 1 shows "Awareness of a future threat is the first step to counter that threat," said study co-author Edward Knightly, Rice's Sheafor-Lindsay Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "The frequencies that are vulnerable to this attack aren't in use yet, but they are coming and we need to be prepared."

They dubbed the attack "Metasurface-in-the-Middle" as a nod to both the hacker's tool and the way it is wielded. Metasurfaces are thin sheets of material with patterned designs that manipulate light or electromagnetic waves. "Man-in-the-middle" is a computer security industry classification for attacks in which an adversary secretly inserts themself between two parties. [2]

The 150 gigahertz frequency is greater than is utilized in immediately’s 5G mobile or Wi-Fi networks. However Knightly mentioned wi-fi carriers need to roll out 150 gigahertz and related frequencies referred to as terahertz waves or millimeter waves over the following decade.

To mount the assault, Eve first designs a metasurface that may diffract a portion of the tight-beam sign to her location. For the demonstration, the researchers designed a sample with a whole lot of rows of break up rings. Every seems just like the letter C, however they don’t seem to be an identical. The open a part of every ring varies in dimension and orientation. [3]

The research confirmed the attack would be complicated for Alice or Bob to detect nowadays. And while the metasurface have to be placed between Alice and Bob, “it could be hidden in the ecosystem,” Knightly explained. “You could conceal it with other sheets of paper, for occasion.”

Knightly said now that wireless researchers and devices manufacturers know about the attack, they can even further research it, produce detection programs and develop those people into terahertz networks up entrance. [4]

References:

1. https://news.rice.edu/news/2022/eavesdroppers-can-hack-6g-frequency-diy-metasurface
2. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220516104638.htm
3. https://news8plus.com/eavesdroppers-can-hack-6g-frequency-with-diy-metasurface/
4. https://alltech.news/computers-smartphones/eavesdroppers-can-hack-6g-frequency-with-diy-metasurface-75345

Cite this article:

Thanusri swetha J (2022), Eavesdroppers can hack 6G frequency with DIY metasurface, AnaTechMaz, pp. 92