LiDAR Attack; Turn Smart Vacuums into Laser Microphones

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https://www.zdnet.com/article/lidarphone-attack-converts-smart-vacuums-into-microphones/

A LidarPhone attack is not straightforward, and certain conditions need to be met.

A team of academics has detailed this week novel research that converted a smart vacuum cleaner into a microphone capable of recording nearby conversations.

Named LidarPhone, the technique works by taking the vacuum's built-in LiDAR laser-based navigational component and converting it into a laser microphone.

Laser microphones are well-known surveillance tools that were used during the Cold War to record conversations from afar. Intelligence agents pointed lasers at far-away windows to monitor how glass vibrated and decoded the vibrations to decipher conversations taking place inside rooms.

Academics from the University of Maryland and the National University of Singapore took this same simple concept but applied it to a Xiaomi Roborock vacuum cleaning robot.

Source(s):
1. News - LidarPhone attack converts smart vacuums into microphones | ZDNet