A group of researchers based in Oxford, UC Berkeley and the University of Geneva have recently released a report that states human brain can be hacked to reveal private data with the use of commercially available brainwave headset. The report is titled On the Feasibility of Side-Channel Attacks with Brain Computer Interfaces and outlines the results of a study in which the security researchers used the Emotiv brainwave headset to guide the subjects thoughts.
In the study, the scientist attached the headsets to 30 participants. They were then shown images of ATM machines, debit cards, maps, people, and numbers. One of the experiments that were conducted to detect the first digit of a PIN number was described in the report. Subjects randomly flashed the numbers 0 to 9 for 90 seconds. Using the head set to monitor brainwaves, the researchers looked for spikes in activity to use as hints guess the correct PIN.
In the report, the researchers claim that during the experiments, “The correct answer was found by the first guess in 20% of the cases for the experiment with the PIN, the debit cards, people, and the ATM machine. The location was exactly guessed for 30% of users, month of birth for almost 60% and the bank based on the ATM machines for almost 30%.”
The purpose of the experiment was not to actually create brain spying products but to warn against the possibility of such hardware and software. According to the researchers, there are commonly found technology today that may be used to gain private information from users without their knowledge.
Source: Wired
Photo: h+ Magazine
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