How everyday WiFi Routers can now secretly track and identify people

New research warns that everyday WiFi routers could be used to identify and track people without their knowledge. [iStockphoto]

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 completely 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 analyse how radio waves bounce off human bodies, the system can profile and recognise individuals in a room with near 100% accuracy in just a few seconds.

Unlike previous tracking methods that required specialised sensors, the new technique works entirely on the everyday routers already installed in homes, offices and even malls.

“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.

He added, “This works similarly to a normal camera, the difference being that in our case, radio waves instead of light waves are used.”

Turning off your smartphone, the experts say, is not enough to avoid detection. They say that 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 utilise 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.

However, they say that WiFi networks pose a unique concern because they are nearly everywhere and largely invisible.

"However, the omnipresent wireless networks might become a nearly comprehensive surveillance infrastructure with one concerning property: they are invisible and raise no suspicion," Researcher Felix Morsbach warned in a statement.

Wireless networks are now common in homes, offices, restaurants, airports, and public spaces across the world, giving this technology potentially enormous reach.

In tests involving 197 participants, the researchers said the system identified individuals with nearly 100% accuracy. The recognition remained effective regardless of viewing angle or how the participants walked.

“The technology is powerful, but at the same time entails risks to our fundamental rights, especially to privacy,” they said.

The researchers are especially concerned about how the technology could be used in authoritarian countries to monitor protesters or track citizens without their knowledge.

They want the international committee in charge of making the next generation of WiFi to build security rules directly into the technology so that it cannot be used to spy on people.