"Hospitals Are at Risk: Smartphone Attacks Could Release Deadly Microbes"

Negative pressure rooms, which are used in hospitals and laboratories to prevent the spread of deadly pathogens, can be breached using a smartphone, according to a team of researchers from the University of California, Irvine (UCI). These rooms are designed to prevent the exposure of outside areas to hazardous microbes. According to cyber-physical systems security experts from UCI, who recently presented their findings at the Conference on Computer and Communications Security, mechanisms that control airflow into and out of biocontainment facilities can be tricked into malfunctioning by a sound of a specific frequency, possibly smuggled into a popular tune. Mohammad Al Faruque, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at UCI, said that someone could play music from a smartphone or transmit it from a television or other audio device in or close to a negative pressure chamber. If this music has a tone that matches to the resonant frequency of the pressure controls in one of these locations, it could result in a malfunction and the release of deadly microbes. The researchers found that Differential Pressure Sensors (DPSs) are vulnerable to remote manipulation, posing a threat to biosafety facilities. They tested their theory on eight industry-standard DPSs from five manufacturers, finding that all the devices function with resonant frequencies in the audible range and are consequently susceptible to manipulation. Attackers could manipulate them wirelessly or impersonate a maintenance employee to place an audio device inside or near such a room. A more sophisticated attack could involve embedding sound-emitting technologies into a DPS before its installation in a biocontainment facility. This article continues to discuss the potential release of deadly microbes through smartphone attacks. 

SciTechDaily reports "Hospitals Are at Risk: Smartphone Attacks Could Release Deadly Microbes"