TECH

MIT creates repeater capable of masking wireless signal

A survey by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has introduced a technique to prevent hackers from hacking into your wireless network. They created a transmitting device that can change the frequency of the signal so quickly that a hacker could not identify.The mechanism works by the use of devices called mass acoustic wave resonators. Such mechanisms are able to switch between a large range of radio frequency channels and send false information directed to each bit. Thus, the device randomly selects a new channel to send these bits and mask the signal so that hackers can not intercept.To that end, the researchers also created a new internet protocol, different from the one currently used, compatible with this technique called "frequency hopping". "With the existing [transmitter] architecture, you would not be able to skip data bits at this low-power speed. By developing this protocol and radiofrequency architecture together, we offer physical layer security for connectivity, "says Rabia Tugce Yazicigil, postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and author of the article. IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium.
The researcher says that the purpose of the research is to collaborate to make essential mechanisms safer, not necessarily for domestic use. "More seriously, perhaps, the transmitter could help protect medical devices like insulin pumps and pacemakers that could be attacked if a hacker wanted to harm someone," says Yazicigil. "When they begin to corrupt [these devices] messages, the lives of many people may be affected."
She explains that the technology can help contain a very common attack called selective interference. Here, a hacker usually intercepts a packet of data and sends it corrupted to a single device. Since only one user on the whole network is in trouble, it is common for the action to go undetected and be confused with only a bad connection.With the MIT technique, the data is broken in several parts and sent to several channels at random, making a hacker need more time to intercept the signal. However, as it attempts to do this, the system has already modified the frequency by preventing action.The challenge of the team now is to increase the power of the device that, due to the technology, requires more than conventional routers. "However, BAW resonators cover only about 4 to 5 megahertz of frequency channels, falling far short of the 80 megahertz range available in the 2.4 gigahertz band designated for wireless communication," explains the researcher.publicity


Source: Eurekalert