Transducer Sensors Suffer Security Risks Based on Physics, Not Malware

The Internet of Things (IoT) is comprised of a massive and rapidly growing number of devices connected to the Internet. These devices include things like household appliances, thermostats, manufacturing robots, cameras, automobiles, biochip transponders and many others. Among these devices are sensors called transducers. Transducers gather data from the physical world, such as light, sound, vibration, heat, and pressure and convert that information into electrical impulses. Software interprets these electrical impulses to make sense of the data. Recent research conducted by Kevin Fu from the University of Michigan and Wenyuan Xu from Zhejiang University has revealed that transducers are inherently vulnerable to attacks based on physics, not malware.