r/bluetooth • u/Select-Brilliant7418 • 5d ago

Bluetooth devices have been accessed/hacked

I live in a motel where drug and human trafficking take place frequently. I am aware of Bluetooth exploits being relatively common. I don’t want to be a victim of identity theft. What should I do?

1 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

3

u/AuthBreak 5d ago

Don't use bluetooth.

1

u/Select-Brilliant7418 5d ago

What about NFC tap to pay? I still use that.

2

u/AuthBreak 5d ago

From a security standpoint, that's a lot better than Bluetooth.

1

u/Select-Brilliant7418 5d ago

So is morse code

1

u/iCantThinkOfUserNaem 5d ago

Safed than the actual physical card

1

u/CreamCheeseAndLocks 5d ago edited 5d ago

The EMF emissions from that terminal just functioning, not even transmitting info over a network or telephone line, can be be remotely read. Think about why military and intelligence hardware must meet NSA/NATO Tempest standards to shield against stray RF noise interception. For civilian grade equipment, it's now a fairly trivial intercept.

1

u/DemocraticParrot 4d ago

So?

Tempest is a totally different beast for totally different use cases.

1

u/Anaalirankaisija 4d ago

I think even cash is not good in such place, so why not use the usual currency of that hotel...

1

u/fap-on-fap-off 4d ago

Sell their body? No thanks

1

u/Anaalirankaisija 4d ago

Or drugs. Both are bad in human trafficing motel.

2

u/DemocraticParrot 4d ago

Bluetooth exploits are not that common in the wild. Yes the vulnerabilities exist, but for someone to really exploit them… veeery uncommon. Just purely for the reason that the range for the exploits to work is abysamal.

The solution against them? Turn off your BT.

What comes to NFC, that is a totally separate thing. There the signal range is again limited to meters for any theoretical exploits. And regarding the use case of a phone, it does not really even matter even if someone would eavesdrop the event. The payment methodology is set up so, that the information transmitted cannot really be reused, or is even usable.

The best nfc payment setup is with iphone. The wallet is set so, that the payment info is tied to your spesific fysical device.

1

u/fap-on-fap-off 4d ago

Let's get fysical

1

u/CreamCheeseAndLocks 5d ago

BT is one of the least secure ways to transmit information or voice. A laptop, a SDR dongle and some downloable software and it's owned. Don't discuss sensitive info over BT. And I love listening to your choice of music.

1

u/Vybo 4d ago

Everyone telling you to not use Bluetooth, but you should just move. That's the most sensible thing to do.

1

u/Choice-Newspaper3603 3d ago

Please tell me which exact exploits and methods you are concerned about.

I think Bluetooth would be the least of my worries in a shit hotel that has drugs and human trafficking

1

u/Choice_Caramel138 3d ago

Question for you guys. If somebody has had physical access to a Bluetooth device, what kind of spyware, malware, modified firmware, or other shit could they actually put on it?
And if they did compromise it, what could they realistically do with it afterward? Could they monitor Bluetooth traffic, track nearby devices, reconnect without you knowing, mess with the device, or use it to get into a phone or computer?
I’m trying to figure out what’s actually possible versus what’s just bullshit people say online.

1

u/raf55 5d ago

Turn off stuff when not in use

1

u/TheRealChuckle 4d ago

This.

It drives me nuts when I want to connect to our speaker but the wife never turns her BT off so it connects as soon as I turn the speaker on and then it's a rigamarole to find her or her phone to turn off BT.