Bluetooth needs filling: smart devices found vulnerable when pairing

Martin Jud

22.5.2020

Translation: Eva Francis

Almost every Bluetooth device is vulnerable. When pairing two devices, a security flaw allows potential attackers to impersonate one device and gain access. All devices are affected – from iPhone to Raspberry Pi and from lamps to routers and refrigerators.

In theory, authentication mechanisms based on a long-term pairing key are supposed to make sure devices with the Bluetooth standard are protected against impersonation attacks. But they’re not, as the security mechanism is flawed.

Three security researchers from ETH Lausanne, the University of Oxford and the Helmholtz Centre for Information Security (CISPA) have discovered security gaps in Bluetooth and have proved this by attacking 30 devices with 28 different chips. The vulnerabilities were reported to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) last December, who adapted the Bluetooth Core Specification accordingly.

Martin Jud

Senior Editor

martin.jud@digitecgalaxus.ch

I find my muse in everything. When I don’t, I draw inspiration from daydreaming. After all, if you dream, you don’t sleep through life.

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