A team of researchers from the University of Waterloo has created a drone device that can see through walls using WiFi networks . The drone device detects weaknesses in WiFi security .
The device, called Wi-Peep , can fly near a building and then use the residents' WiFi to quickly identify and locate any WiFi - enabled devices .
Wi-Peep exploits a vulnerability that researchers call polite WiFi . Even if the network is password-protected, smart devices will automatically respond to connection attempts from any device within range. Wi-Peep sends several messages to a device as it flies and then measures the response time on each device, making It enables him to locate the device within a counter.
Dr. Ali Abedi, assistant professor of computer science at Waterloo, explains the importance of this discovery.
Obeidi said, “ Wi-Peep devices are like lights in the visible spectrum, and walls are like glass. Using similar technology, one can track the movements of security guards inside a bank by tracking the location of their phones or smartwatches. Similarly, a thief can determine the location and type of smart devices in the bank.” home, including security cameras, laptops, and smart TVs, to find a good candidate for intrusion. Additionally, operating the device via a drone means it can be used quickly and remotely with little chance of user detection.”
While scientists have discovered a WiFi vulnerability in the past using bulky, expensive hardware, Wi-Peep is noteworthy for its accessibility and portability, and Abedi's team built it using a store-bought drone and $20 hardware. .
"Once we discovered the WiFi vulnerability , we realized that this type of attack was possible," Abedi said.
The team built Wi-Peep to test their theory and quickly realized that anyone with the right expertise could easily build a similar device.
"At the most basic level, we need to fix the Polite WiFi vulnerability so our devices don't respond to strangers," Abedi said. " We hope our work can contribute to the design of next-generation protocols."
Meanwhile, WiFi chip manufacturers are urged to introduce a random variance into device response time, which would make calculations like the one used by Wi-Peep wildly inaccurate.