Fed radio security hole exploited using children’s toy

Who would have thought that a simply child’s toy could actually be used to exploit a security hold in the portable radios that are used by many federal law enforcement agents? Researchers who have found the flaw actually managed to intercept over hundreds of hours of sensitive traffic that were sent without encryption (!) over the past couple of years. Either this is a case of gross negligence, or it might just be too over-confident that nobody in the right mind would actually take the effort to crack or find a loophole.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania actually stumbled upon conversations that were not meant for public ears while looking into such technology, where among them included descriptions of undercover agents and confidential informants, upcoming arrest plans as well as sensitive information on the technology used in surveillance operations.

Not only that, the research even led the team to jam such radios with but a pink electronic child’s toy worth $30 that you see on the right – with the radio’s standard opening up a huge door with a “Welcome” sign for an attacker” to continuously track the location of a radio’s user. Hopefully this situation will be remedied – and soon, lest you want the enemies of law enforcement officers to get the drop on their plans.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Gadgets