Security News > 2024 > June > New security loophole allows spying on internet users’ online activity

Researchers at Graz University of Technology were able to spy on users' online activities simply by monitoring fluctuations in the speed of their internet connection.

This stealthy approach allows the attacker to reconstruct the victim's online activity, posing a threat to their privacy.

SnailLoad combines latency data with fingerprinting of online content.

"When the victim accesses a website, watches an online video or speaks to someone via video, the latency of the internet connection fluctuates in a specific pattern that depends on the particular content being used," says Stefan Gast from the IAIK. This is because all online content has a unique "Fingerprint".

The pattern of the number and size of these data packages is unique for each piece of online content - like a human fingerprint.

"However, the attack would also work the other way round," says Daniel Gruss from the IAIK: "Attackers first measure the pattern of latency fluctuations when a victim is online and then search for online content with the matching fingerprint."

News URL

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2024/06/25/snailload-security-loophole-spy-users-online-activities/