JayAtl
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Customs agents found tea kettles and irons bugged with freaky Spyware chips that exploit WiFi connections, reports Rosbalt, the local news outlet out of St. Petersberg.
The chips, the paper claims, can exploit WiFi without passwords at a range of "up to 200 meters" and then “sends some data to the foreign server.”
The Register did some digging and found the story legit. They also surmise the supposed bugging could be pulled off with ease:
We see no reason why not: the components are small and cheap enough. One last wrinkle: could one convert Russia's 220v electricity supply to power a small electronic device without frying it, and without making an iron or kettle look rather odd? The answer is yes: all manner of tiny PCB transformers can be had to do the job.
The Register's "one problem" with the story stems from the customs agents' claim that they found the chips because the shipments were overweight.
"We surmise that whoever made the killer kettles and infiltrated irons cobbled them together with unlovely components that made their presence obvious," writes Simon Sharwood of The Register.
Well, aside from China's (cheap) "cobbled together" products (that spy on people), we have one other problem: why spy on regular people.
Unless, of course, they were just a test for a more surreptitious operation to plant such wifi microchips.
Maybe, they'll do like Russia and hand out thumb drives at the next G20 meeting?
Read more: Russia Claims China Bugged Tea Kettles - Business Insider
Pre-Hacked Electronics Come Straight From China’s Factories
While inspecting shipments from China, Russian customs agents found something odd. Inside several of the kettles and irons they found WiFi chips and microprocessors. If the devices were plugged in, the chips would search for unsecured WiFi networks up to 650 feet away, then “call home” to grant access to cybercriminals.
While the unusual form of cybercrime took researchers by surprise, it was only the latest in an emerging threat of hacked electronics coming straight from the Chinese factories.
There is a long list of devices riddled with backdoors, infected with malware, or fitted with spying devices before leaving Chinese factories. These range from kettles to laptops, from USB keys to cameras, and from consumer software right up to military components.
In June 2011, Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily uncovered recording devices installed in all dual-plate Chinese-Hong Kong vehicles. They were labeled as “inspection and quarantine cards,” and were installed free of charge by China’s Shenzhen Inspection and Quarantine Bureau.
In June 2010, an auto-run virus in China-made memory cards in Olympus Stylus Tough cameras was infecting computers in Japan. The virus was uncovered just a week after an identical virus was in the memory cards ofSamsung smartphones. Prior to that were viruses in devices including China-made TomTom GPS systems, and Insignia digital picture framessold at major outlets, including Best Buy, Target, and Sam’s Club.
Pre-Hacked Electronics Come Straight From China's Factories » The Epoch Times
The chips, the paper claims, can exploit WiFi without passwords at a range of "up to 200 meters" and then “sends some data to the foreign server.”
The Register did some digging and found the story legit. They also surmise the supposed bugging could be pulled off with ease:
We see no reason why not: the components are small and cheap enough. One last wrinkle: could one convert Russia's 220v electricity supply to power a small electronic device without frying it, and without making an iron or kettle look rather odd? The answer is yes: all manner of tiny PCB transformers can be had to do the job.
The Register's "one problem" with the story stems from the customs agents' claim that they found the chips because the shipments were overweight.
"We surmise that whoever made the killer kettles and infiltrated irons cobbled them together with unlovely components that made their presence obvious," writes Simon Sharwood of The Register.
Well, aside from China's (cheap) "cobbled together" products (that spy on people), we have one other problem: why spy on regular people.
Unless, of course, they were just a test for a more surreptitious operation to plant such wifi microchips.
Maybe, they'll do like Russia and hand out thumb drives at the next G20 meeting?
Read more: Russia Claims China Bugged Tea Kettles - Business Insider
Pre-Hacked Electronics Come Straight From China’s Factories
While inspecting shipments from China, Russian customs agents found something odd. Inside several of the kettles and irons they found WiFi chips and microprocessors. If the devices were plugged in, the chips would search for unsecured WiFi networks up to 650 feet away, then “call home” to grant access to cybercriminals.
While the unusual form of cybercrime took researchers by surprise, it was only the latest in an emerging threat of hacked electronics coming straight from the Chinese factories.
There is a long list of devices riddled with backdoors, infected with malware, or fitted with spying devices before leaving Chinese factories. These range from kettles to laptops, from USB keys to cameras, and from consumer software right up to military components.
In June 2011, Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily uncovered recording devices installed in all dual-plate Chinese-Hong Kong vehicles. They were labeled as “inspection and quarantine cards,” and were installed free of charge by China’s Shenzhen Inspection and Quarantine Bureau.
In June 2010, an auto-run virus in China-made memory cards in Olympus Stylus Tough cameras was infecting computers in Japan. The virus was uncovered just a week after an identical virus was in the memory cards ofSamsung smartphones. Prior to that were viruses in devices including China-made TomTom GPS systems, and Insignia digital picture framessold at major outlets, including Best Buy, Target, and Sam’s Club.
Pre-Hacked Electronics Come Straight From China's Factories » The Epoch Times
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