The perks of Bluebooth technology come with security risks, say researchers.
David Starobinski and Johannes Becker, researchers from Boston University, uncovered that popular Bluetooth devices including iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and FitBits—and workplace essentials including MacBooks and Microsoft tablets and laptops—have a flaw that exposes device users to the risk of being tracked by unwanted adversaries.
In this Q&A, the researchers share how Bluetooth devices can be tracked, the implications of this discovery, and best-practices for protection:
What is the difference between Bluetooth and BT LE? Why has Bluetooth become so ubiquitous?
Researchers: Bluetooth LE is a “Low Energy” variant of Bluetooth that was introduced with Bluetooth 4.0. Its optimization for, as the name implies, reduced energy consumption makes it a very popular wireless communication standard for connected battery-powered devices such as smartphones, laptops, headsets, tablets, and IoT devices in general.
Bluetooth 5 has since further optimized the communication range, making Bluetooth an extremely versatile and capable wireless technology.
How does Bluetooth technology work?
Researchers: Bluetooth operates on the 2.4GHz band—a spectrum also occupied by WiFi (and many other popular wireless protocols). In order to avoid message collisions with other protocols, Bluetooth employs a so-called frequency hopping scheme, which means that Bluetooth devices change their transmission frequency across a large number of predefined channels many times per second in a “pseudo-random” pattern.
In Bluetooth LE, three of these channels are called “advertising channels” and have a special function: they are used to broadcast plain-text information that facilitates communication with other nearby devices. Here’s a couple of examples of how this communication plays out:
Imagine a Bluetooth beacon installed in the shirts area of a department store broadcasting the equivalent of “Hi, th ..
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