For hackers, even light bulbs are good to spy on private conversations

Hackers may have discovered a new way of spying on people and that is, through light bulbs, according to researchers from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. This report was carried in News18.

The team of researchers found that by using an electro-optical sensor-equipped telescope, they can aim at a light bulb in the room where conversations are held and in theory, listen in on private conversations.

This is possible as the human voices are essentially sound waves and they cause all kinds of vibrations that are invisible to the naked eye. However, with the right equipment, hackers could pick up our voices and convert them into audio via analog-to-digital convertor.

Researchers said that right now it is just a theory and is more complex than it seems to be. It is complex because of the thickness of the glass of the light bulbs and brightness. It also requires nothing in the way to disturb the vibration such as a drawn curtain.

Hackers reportedly spy through hijacking computer’s webcam/microphone, and smart speakers, among others.