'Rifle' Sniffs Out Vulnerability in Bluetooth Devices

All Things Considered, April 13, 2005   If you've used your cell phone today -- or any other wireless device that uses Bluetooth technology -- someone could be watching you.

John Hering, a student at the University of Southern California, has developed the BlueSniper rifle, a tool that looks like a big gun which can "attack" a wireless device from more than a mile away -- several times the 328-foot maximum range of Bluetooth.

This was first reported at BoingBoing last month:

One of the security assumptions in Bluetooth is that attackers need to be quite close-by if they want to gain access to your phone or other device. Here's simple instructions for building a handsome, effective Bluetooth "sniper rifle" whose high-gain antenna will give you access to devices from miles away.

tag: Bluetooth, privacy, security