Black Hat Archive

  • Free Parking: Black Hat conference attacks electronic parking meters

    Free Parking: Black Hat conference attacks electronic parking meters

    black hat free parkingAs we move farther and farther into the digital age, we begin to see some serious problems with an all-digital lifestyle. Take parking meters, for example. As much as a pain as it is to root under your car seat looking for loose change to feed the meter, there aren't too many ways to avoid actually putting money into a traditional meter. (Or maybe there are. I haven't bothered to investigate, since I don't currently own a vehicle.) Newer electronic parking meters, though, can be pretty easily subverted, as demonstrated at the Black Hat conference this week.

    Full Story

  • Type much? Watch out for data-thieving lasers and power outlets

    Type much? Watch out for data-thieving lasers and power outlets

    hamburglarArticles like this make me glad I lead a relatively boring life and rarely type anything interesting enough to steal (or even read?) into my computer. Hackers will demonstrate a couple new methods of data theft at Black Hat USA 2009 in Vegas later this month. Both methods involve reading which individual keyboard keys are struck from afar. One method reads the impulses through electrical outlets and the other uses a laser shined on a flat surface of the computer to detect the minute wobble generated when each key is struck.

    Full Story