Hackers can steal data from 3D printers using just a smartphone
In the years to come, 3D printing is going to be used for everything from helping create rocket engines to printing new heart valves. With those kind of high-stakes — and often highly-valuable –applications, it’s no wonder experts are concerned about the security risk posed by hackers.
One possible threat is explored in a new study by researchers at the University at Buffalo in New York entitled “My Smartphone Knows What You Print: Exploring Smartphone-Based Side-Channel Attacks Against 3D Printers.”
A team of computer scientists was able to use a regular smartphone’s built-in sensors to measure the electromagnetic energy and acoustic waves that emanate from a 3-D printer. By doing so, they were then able to gather enough data to replicate 3D-printed objects with accuracy levels of up to 94 percent, depending on the complexity of the object.
