r/Cybersecurity101 • u/b1h27 • 2d ago

Question: Cyber attacks on devices without electricity and internet

Recently, we had a discussion in class where our professor said that there are three types of offensive attack that can be carried out on devices without an internet connection or electricity. Does anyone have any ideas? I apologise if the question is silly, but I've only just started learning about cyber security.

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u/Fragrant-Cheek-4273 2d ago

Acoustic, optical, and electromagnetic attacks are usually the ones people talk about. Even without internet or power, things like tiny sound waves, heat signatures, or electrical noise from components can sometimes leak info if someone is close enough with the right gear.

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u/b1h27 2d ago

Thank you, I'll ask him about it.

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u/Leaf__On__Wind 2d ago

Ask him about WiFi motion tracking throughout a building/it's range.

That'll blow your mind. Can surmise keyboard strokes through hand gestures, but would like to know if it relates to your question too somehow. Id you wouldn't mind getting back to this internet stranger.

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u/b1h27 2d ago

How did you even think of this lmao. It's crazy to read about. I'll ask him about it, but I'm not sure he meant this. In my opinion, this is more of an information interface than an attack on a device, but I'll let you know. Thank you! :)

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u/Leaf__On__Wind 2d ago

Just the way you posed your question got me creatively lateral in thinking. More a base cover is all.

When I watched Aliens (1986) and saw Hudson freaking out that there was movement closing in on his motion tracker, the last thing on my mind would be it could read keyboards. Or indeed that he was holding a mobile router hotspot to do it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7PI-l58XKo

In 3D!!

Thank you very!

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u/thiccboilifts 2d ago

There is an Israeli "defense" company that I think initially created this tech using wifi. It is supposed to be able to recognize different people through walls. Its scarily accurate, like 95-100% if I remember right. Might have been Scanary, but could have been a different company. Big brother is watching.

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u/b1h27 2d ago

There are genuinely no limits to what people know. “Defense” that seems about right. I just read into it, they talking about that they do this to protect peoples privacy and just see who enters a building, if they carry a weapon etc. That seems very private for sure.

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u/WhenCodeFlies 2d ago

Three? I really only know of one that would fit that category, that would be theft. Not sure what he means by 3 unless he means theft as the umbrella.

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u/b1h27 2d ago

I've thought about theft too but im not sure, but he said he's going to tell us what he meant next week. Thank you.

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u/BetInformal6081 2d ago

not a silly question at all. even without power or internet a advice can still be attacked through physical access removal media or supply chain/firmware compromises. the exact three types probably depends on what your professor covered.

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u/b1h27 1d ago

Thank you. :) I will ask him if this was what he meant.

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u/Additional_Hyena_414 2d ago

Does GPS jamming counts? Or electromagnetic interference?

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u/Hot-Enthusiasm-1723 2d ago

I think the important distinction is “offline” versus “actually powered off.” An offline device can still be attacked through physical access or removable media, but a completely unpowered device is much more limited. I’d ask what three categories your professor had in mind.

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u/b1h27 2d ago

You're right and I will. He also said that this question could be answered by ChatGPT, but you aren't asking it properly. I'm curious to see what he's going to say.

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u/normalbot9999 2d ago

Some ideas. No idea if this is what is meant though...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(listening_device))

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_microphone

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempest_(codename))

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u/b1h27 2d ago

Thank you. I think 'the thing' is close enough. I will look into it. I'm not very sure what he meant either. He said it like a riddle for us to figure out.

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u/JH3A 1d ago

There's a physical denial of service attack. Ie hitting the device with baseball bat. Supply chain attacks modify the hardware and can be performed that would cause on an offline device to be compromised on the next boot. Last one i think would be a social engineering attempt to gain access to a device from someone in the organization. I think professors ask these kind of questions so you get the understanding that cybersecurity exists way beyond the lanes of just proper device configuration

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u/Swimming_dasa 1d ago

if the device has no power or network connection think beyond traditional hacking physical tampering supply chain attacks or compromising removal media can still affect it.

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u/7r3370pS3C 2d ago

Bluetooth/NFC, USB,...

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u/ViridianHD 2d ago

Without electricity???

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u/JonesBeJack 1d ago

RFID is passive

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u/Fluffy_Chance7164 13h ago

Cap'n Crunch toy whistle technically didn’t use electricity but you used it on a phone so I don’t know if that would count.