Now, Even Your Headphones Can Spy You

Malware can turn your computers into perpetual eavesdropping devices by covertly turning speakers or headphones/earphones into microphones, scientists have warned. Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Israel have shown how most PCs today are susceptible to such attacks using a malware called SPEAKE(a)R. The fact that headphones, earphones and speakers are physically built like microphones, and that an audio port’s role in the PC can be reprogrammed from output to input, creates a vulnerability that can be abused by hackers. This is the reason people like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg tape up their mic and webcam. You might tape the mic, but would be unlikely to tape the headphones or speakers. Malware can stealthily reconfigure the headphone jack from a lineout jack to a microphone jack, making the connected headphones function as a pair of recording microphones. This works even when the PC does not have a connected mic.