Preventing eavesdropping in the Internet of Things

The intelligent reflecting surface IRShield is positioned next to a Wi-Fi router for obfuscation of the environment-dependent wireless channel. CASA, Michael Schwettmann The intelligent reflecting surface IRShield is positioned next to a Wi-Fi router for obfuscation of the environment-dependent wireless channel. CASA, Michael Schwettmann - Intelligent reflecting surfaces can protect communication against attacks by adversarial wireless sensing The Internet of Things opens new gateways for eavesdroppers. The devices which are interconnected in more and more households communicate wirelessly. This can endanger privacy considerably: Passive eavesdroppers are able to obtain sensitive data through intercepted high-frequency signals. However, a team to which researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy belonged, developped a method based on intelligent reflecting surfaces to prevent such attacks. Smart devices are supposed to make our everyday lives easier.