"Eavesdroppers Can Hack 6G Frequency With DIY Metasurface"

According to engineering researchers from Rice University and Brown University, in as little as five minutes, hackers can develop a tool to eavesdrop on some 6G wireless signals using office paper, an inkjet printer, a metallic foil transfer, and a laminator. Edward Knightly, Rice's Sheafor-Lindsay Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and co-author of the study, says the frequencies vulnerable to this attack are not being used yet, but they will be soon, and we must be ready. The researchers demonstrated the possibility of an attacker easily creating a metasurface, a sheet of office paper covered in 2D foil symbols, and using it to redirect part of a 150 gigahertz pencil beam transmission between two users. Their attack is called "Metasurface-in-the-Middle" in reference to both the hacker's tool and how it is used. Light or electromagnetic waves are manipulated using metasurfaces, thin sheets of material with patterned designs. The 150 gigahertz frequency is higher than that of today's 5G cellular or Wi-Fi networks. However, Knightly stated that during the next decade, wireless operators plan to deploy 150 gigahertz and similar frequencies known as terahertz waves or millimeter waves. To accommodate wide-band applications such as virtual reality and driverless vehicles, next-generation wireless networks will use high frequencies and pencil beams. This article continues to discuss the researchers' demonstration of the Metasurface-in-the-Middle attack. 

Rice University reports "Eavesdroppers Can Hack 6G Frequency With DIY Metasurface"