AI can see what's on your screen by reading HDMI electromagnetic radiation

[zohaibahd]

Shiver me timbers: Security researchers have demonstrated that it's possible to spy on what's visible on your screen by intercepting electromagnetic radiation from video cables with great accuracy, thanks to artificial intelligence. The team from Uruguay's University of the Republic says their AI-powered cable-tapping method is good enough that these attacks are likely already happening.

Back in the analog video era, it was relatively straightforward for hackers to reconstruct what was on a screen by detecting the leakage from video cables. But once digital protocols like HDMI took over, that became much trickier. The data zipping through HDMI is much more complex than old analog signals.

However, those digital signals still leak some electromagnetic radiation as they transmit between your computer and display. By training an AI model on samples of matching original and intercepted HDMI signals, the researchers were able to decode those leaks into readable screen captures.

Their new technique reconstructed text from pilfered HDMI signals with around 70% accuracy. While that's far from perfect, it's good enough for most human readers to accurately decipher. That potentially means it's easy for hackers to monitor things like password entries, financial data, or encrypted communications.

To test their attack, the researchers used text recognition software on the visuals recovered by their AI model. They could then compare the extracted text to the original screen contents. The team says their method improves the error rate for this type of HDMI cable tapping by a whopping 60% compared to previous techniques.

There are a few ways hackers could pull off this HDMI eavesdropping in the real world. They could plant a discreet signal-capturing device inside the target building. Or just hang out nearby with a radio antenna to grab leaked HDMI radiation as it happens.

The researchers say these attacks are already being used against government agencies and sensitive industrial settings. But these types of organizations likely already shield their facilities against electromagnetic leaks, even if it comes at a significant cost.

However, for the average home or office user, the barrier to entry is still pretty high for this HDMI hacking approach. Deploying the AI models and signal-capturing equipment required isn't trivial.

"Governments are worried about this, [but] I wouldn't say that the normal user should be too concerned. But if you really care about your security, whatever your reasons are, this could be a problem," explains lead researcher Federico Larroca.

There's no need to toss your HDMI cables just yet, but perhaps keep an eye out for shady van operations camped across the street next time you log into your crypto wallets.

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AI can see what's on your screen by reading HDMI electromagnetic radiation

 

[gabelogan1324]

The human mind never fails to astonish me..

 

[Squid Surprise]

Can they grab DP data as well?

 

[wiyosaya]

So its a non-issue.

 

[return]

Smarter HDMI ads.

 

[brucek]

Since we've all already been forced to pay for HDCP-capable cards and monitors, anyway we can turn this on for our regular desktop use? It would be nice to get some positive value from it for once.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

HDMI supports encrypted video, so that can definitely be used. It's intended for DRM but I don't see why it can't be used elsewhere. But I seriously doubt how frequently this is being used... What kind of electromagnetic signals are being leaked anyways? Infrared? Radio? I'm more interested in that.

 

[Tantor]

Not surprising. AI is simply a system to map the relationships between sets of data. The danger of AI (for the elites) is that it could be used to uncover them. For example, once trained properly, it could be used to spot Narcissism or Border Personality Disorder from videos of a person's behavior. It's often said that psychopathy is very common among top CEOs and world leaders.

For example, if you run an AI analysis of Biden's memory slips, you will get a diagnosis that may be very hard to refute. The same for Harris, Pelosi, Newsom, etc.

 

[toooooot]

So its a non-issue.

It is a big issue for some.

 

[Dimitrios]

Not surprising. AI is simply a system to map the relationships between sets of data. The danger of AI (for the elites) is that it could be used to uncover them. For example, once trained properly, it could be used to spot Narcissism or Border Personality Disorder from videos of a person's behavior. It's often said that psychopathy is very common among top CEOs and world leaders.

For example, if you run an AI analysis of Biden's memory slips, you will get a diagnosis that may be very hard to refute. The same for Harris, Pelosi, Newsom, etc.

I like your thinking.

 

[Apocalypto]

Exactly how close to the hdmi cable would you have to be?
Close enough to not get too much interfere from tbe power supply, wifi signals, a nearby microwave, the hum of mains power lines, or the next hdmi cable over?

 

[yesnt]

Don't need AI for that.

 

[Squid Surprise]

Exactly how close to the hdmi cable would you have to be?
Close enough to not get too much interfere from tbe power supply, wifi signals, a nearby microwave, the hum of mains power lines, or the next hdmi cable over?

From the article it seems that you don’t have to be too close… looks like you can plug in a “signal stealer” somewhere in the building and access numerous signals at a time.

 

[Howly]

Not surprising. AI is simply a system to map the relationships between sets of data. The danger of AI (for the elites) is that it could be used to uncover them. For example, once trained properly, it could be used to spot Narcissism or Border Personality Disorder from videos of a person's behavior. It's often said that psychopathy is very common among top CEOs and world leaders.

For example, if you run an AI analysis of Biden's memory slips, you will get a diagnosis that may be very hard to refute. The same for Harris, Pelosi, Newsom, etc.

That's already been done and it's shown that conservatives are more likely to be psychopaths than progressives.
The lack of empathy in conservatives, a defining trait of psychopaths, is well documented.
Why do you think most CEOs are conservatives?

You may want to look in the mirror before making such substantial accusations about others.
Or at least make your lies less easily refutable.

 

[umeng2002]

So... HDCP is useless?

 

[Stan1ey]

 

[hwertz]

Ahh TEMPEST is alive and well. This was/is the term from NSA and NATO specification for securing computers against electromagnetic leakage, basically to stick the whole thing in a farrady cage so one can't read information remotely through signal leakage.

Not sure if this was developed in the 1980s or 1990s, but by the 1990s they (not even the NSA, just randos using some off the shelf equipment and ingenuity, the kind of thing that'd show up on Hackaday now...) had found one could read the (PS2 at that point) keyboard and mouse at some distance, and could reconstruct the screen from leakage of the VGA signal at something like 50 feet (and even through a wall at some distance.)

 

[A Tabby Person]

Not surprising. AI is simply a system to map the relationships between sets of data. The danger of AI (for the elites) is that it could be used to uncover them. For example, once trained properly, it could be used to spot Narcissism or Border Personality Disorder from videos of a person's behavior. It's often said that psychopathy is very common among top CEOs and world leaders.

For example, if you run an AI analysis of Biden's memory slips, you will get a diagnosis that may be very hard to refute. The same for Harris, Pelosi, Newsom, etc.

It’s good that you try to engage in dialogue and communication. Please be mindful of the non-cultists. YOU brought the cult into this forum. Was not here before your post. This is a technology forum. Reddit or Twitter are better places for this ad hominem commentary.

 

[A Tabby Person]

So... HDCP is useless?

HDCP is spelled out in the acronym itself: Content Protection. Was never about us users, not about PRIVACY, always about RIGHTSHOLDERS.

 

[nitebird]

It's hard to believe a van across the street can capture HDMI emissions through all the background radiation we have, from wifi to cell towers... different story if it was a sensor physically attached to the cable but a HDMI cable is a high bandwidth connection. If the article showed a "70% accurate" reconstructed image it'd be more believable but this make me think it's a proof-of-concept ideal situation test with a low res, low fps, static image being transmitted through the cable with size 42 font.

 

[shaddn]

this make me think it's a proof-of-concept ideal situation test with a low res, low fps, static image being transmitted through the cable with size 42 font.

the article links to the original paper that shows actual results and they are pretty astonishing. Why guess, check it out, don't be lazy. Smh.

 

[nitebird]

the article links to the original paper that shows actual results and they are pretty astonishing. Why guess, check it out, don't be lazy. Smh.

Didn't see link thanks, but did check it out and confirmed my expectations. Static short distance tests, 1 in same room or 2 on other side of wall. Using low 1080p, 900p, 720p resolutions. With how EM emissions work, when you get to modern 4k resolutions, you have to be even closer to pick up the signals at which you can just set up a camera looking at the screen if not access the computer directly lol.

 

[snOrdquist]

Can they grab DP data as well?

Nothing to do but try the SDR method described above in the linked keyword Technique. While stocking a nicer GPU for their ML decoder so it's not a whole minute for stuff to get visible. HDMI is TMDS encoded so any change-ups for displayport should be configured... Take that,

Didn't see link thanks, but did check it out and confirmed my expectations. Static short distance tests, 1 in same room or 2 on other side of wall. Using low 1080p, 900p, 720p resolutions. With how EM emissions work, when you get to modern 4k resolutions, you have to be even closer to pick up the signals at which you can just set up a camera looking at the screen if not access the computer directly lol.

VNC. How noisy are mere cellphone displays and e-paper if that's how you read your coinkite.

 

[hwertz]

I don't know about that -- 4K runs at a higher link speed, but if you have the same size screen your text will probably be the same size, just using more pixels. You'd actually have a larger number of pixels to sample and try to clean up than at 1080 or 720.

If you look at something like the Shannon limit, it's generally considered as how fast you can transmit within a given spectrum and noise level, etc and maintain an acceptable bit error rate. Usually talked about in terms of bits per second etc... but in the case of just wanting a recoverable image from uncompressed video as is going over an HDMI cable or the like, there's really many many bits covering, say, a recoverable letter "a", and even higher at higher resolutions. The high bit rate means it's very difficult to recover, but the low information rate means you can recover useable data with a surprisingly high noise floor. Some of these hams now use digital modes designed for tolerating a high noise floor to do cross country DXing on like 10 watts transmit power.

Can they grab DP data as well?

They in fact make passive cables (no electronics) to convert between DVI, HDMI, and displayport, they are electrically identical.

If you are too concerned, look up TEMPEST specs. I mean the full treatment your computer's locked in a farrady cage, but I'm pretty sure it's written up so you could follow a few recommendations and cut most of the noise down. (Of course it was spec'ed in like the 1980s and I have no idea if it is specifically updated; so the specific plugs and interfaces may be different but the principles will remain the same.) There's some people.. hams and electronics enthusiasts that want to use a SDR to pick up radio rather than to pick up noise from a nearby HDMI cable, and are trying to reduce the interference from it for that reason. The ferrite beads cut down some, and there's some cables that say they are shielded to reduce RFI -- well, that's done by keeping those signals from leaking out as much so it'd make it that much harder to pick up. The keyboard and mouse, USB low speed that keyboards use only runs at 1.5mbps so there'd be that as well.

 

[nitebird]

I don't know about that -- 4K runs at a higher link speed, but if you have the same size screen your text will probably be the same size, just using more pixels. You'd actually have a larger number of pixels to sample and try to clean up than at 1080 or 720.

picking up each pixel is harder though, think about how camera lens size grows to maintain the same resolution at a distance or how higher frequency radio waves have shorter effective range... not saying it's not possible but it belongs in a list of things you don't have to worry about because if people can use this tech on you, they can just bug your whole room, splice your internet, and add a wifi repeater to your HDMI cable deal...