A drone capable of seeing beyond the walls, of identifying every device connected to the wi-fi inside the houses. This is the recent discovery by researchers at the University of Waterloo, who made the year starting from an economic device, absolutely within everyone's reach.
Wi-Peep, as the infamous spy drone is called, was unveiled during the Annual International Conference on mobile computing and networking, in Sydney, Australia.
Researchers Ali Abedi and Deepak Vasisht created the drone by exploiting a security vulnerability in the IEEE 802.11 wireless protocol, thanks to which the system is able to use data in wi-fi networks to identify the location of connected devices. This is possible because all "intelligent" devices are designed to react to contact attempts from other devices in the same area, even in the presence of a password.
We-Peep would thus be able, through the emission of a signal, to get in touch with nearby devices to locate them and to know their type thanks to the MAC address. A complete mapping of Smart TVs, PCs, laptops, smartphones and also of video surveillance systems, sensors and cameras. The uses by criminals are easily imaginable, in fact the two researchers emphasized the need to develop greater protections for wi-fi systems, which are still too vulnerable in such a hyper-connected world.
