Researchers have managed to hack wireless chargers. By manipulating the inductive charging stations, they were able to heat a smartphone and other objects in the immediate vicinity.
Wireless chargers are a practical invention. The annoying search for a suitable charging cable is no longer necessary and you protect your mobile phone’s charging socket. But a team of researchers is now showing that this inconspicuous device can be manipulated in everyday life.
As a result of a hacker attack, the tested chargers begin to continuously supply various objects with energy and thus heat them up significantly. The results are worrying.
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Hacker attack on everyday devices almost melts objects
What was hacked? A team of researchers from the University of Florida and security auditing firm CertiK have hacked the world’s nine best-selling wireless smartphone chargers.
Such wireless charging stations use electromagnetic fields to transfer energy to the devices to be charged using the principle of induction. In their experiment, the researchers manipulated these magnetic fields and almost set various devices and objects on fire.
How did they go about this? An intermediary device was used to transmit a noise signal to manipulate the input voltage of the chargers.
This so-called VoltSchemer attack creates interference that disrupts communication between the charging station and the cell phone lying on it.
This allowed the researchers to outsmart the existing restrictions and carry out different types of attacks.
What were the consequences of the attacks? In their first experiment, the researchers ensured that the wireless charger could not detect when a cell phone had finished charging. This caused the smartphone to overcharge. A Samsung S8 reached a hot 81 degrees.
The second test bypassed safety standards and transferred large amounts of energy to objects near the chargers. These included USB sticks, car keys and paper clips.
All objects were damaged in this VoltSchemer attack. The USB stick became unusable and the small battery in the car key even exploded due to the intense heat.
The paper clips that held papers together almost caused a fire as the paper clips reached an incredible temperature of 280 degrees.
In the third and final variant, the research team transmitted noise signals to the chargers in order to introduce inaudible voice commands into a smartphone. You could now make phone calls and launch any apps.
What was the purpose of the hacker attacks? The researchers used the frightening results to alert the charger manufacturers to the existing security gaps.
They hope that for this reason, manufacturers will take appropriate countermeasures and work on better security standards.
Devices can sometimes be damaged unnoticed due to temperatures that are too high. Hardware that has been exposed to excessive heat, for example, ends up as a defective item on eBay and Co. A hobbyist did everything right when purchasing an item with defective hardware: Hobbyist buys 4 broken AMD processors for 64 euros – is lucky and saves a lot lot of money
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