In two newly released reports (the other ten are there as well), the team demonstrated how attackers can bypass Faraday enclosures and air gaps to leak data from the most highly secured computers. The Odini method, named after the escape artist Harry Houdini, exploits the magnetic field generated by a computer’s central processing unit (CPU) to circumvent even the most securely equipped room. Click here to watch the demonstration.“While Faraday rooms may successfully block electromagnetic signals that emanate from computers, low frequency magnetic radiation disseminates through the air, penetrating metal shields within the rooms,” explains Dr. Guri. “That’s why a compass still works inside of a Faraday room. Attackers can use this covert magnetic channel to intercept sensitive data from virtually any desktop PCs, servers, laptops, embedded systems, and other devices.”
In another documented cyberattack dubbed Magneto, researchers utilized malware keystrokes and passwords on an air-gapped computer to transfer data to a nearby smartphone via its magnetic sensor. Attackers can intercept this leaked data even when a smartphone is sealed in a Faraday bag or set on “airplane mode” to prevent incoming and outgoing communications. more