Your home or neighbourhood WiFi router may soon double as a highly accurate surveillance tool.
Researchers have revealed a security loophole where hackers or governments can hijack wireless signals to identify and track people without their permission, even if their phones are turned off.
The study, conducted by cybersecurity experts at the Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), reveals that standard wireless infrastructure can actually ‘see’ human bodies.
They discovered that by using artificial intelligence to analyze how radio waves bounce off human bodies, the system can profile and recognize individuals in a room with near 100 per cent accuracy in just a few seconds.
Unlike previous tracking methods that required specialized sensors, the new technique works entirely on the everyday routers already installed in homes, offices and even malls.
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“By observing the propagation of radio waves, we can create an image of the surroundings and of persons who are present,” Professor Thorsten Strufe from KIT’s Institute of Information Security and Dependability said in a statement dated May 22.
“This works similarly to a normal camera, the difference being that in our case, radio waves instead of light waves are used,” Strufe added.
Turning off your smartphone, the experts say, is not enough to avoid detection. They say nearby wireless devices connected to the network still generate enough signal activity for the system to work.
The experts say the technology could transform everyday routers into quiet monitoring systems that operate without attracting attention.
While intelligence agencies and hackers already utilize compromised security cameras, researchers warn that WiFi-based surveillance is uniquely dangerous because it is completely invisible.
Julian Todt, a researcher on the project, warned that simply walking past a local café could allow public authorities or private companies to quietly log your identity and track your movements later.
“This technology turns every router into a potential means for surveillance,” warns Todt.
The researchers noted that intelligence agencies and cyber-criminals currently have easier ways to monitor people, including hacked security cameras or Internet-connected doorbells.
They say that WiFi networks pose a unique concern because they are nearly everywhere and largely invisible.