Creepy Smartphone Malware Re-creates Your Home For Stalkers

from the whose-side-are-you-on? dept

Fri, Oct 5th 2012 7:39pm — Glyn Moody

It's become something of a cliché that anyone with a mobile phone is carrying a tracking device that provides detailed information about their location. But things are moving on, as researchers (and probably others as well) explore new ways to subvert increasingly-common smartphones to gain other revealing data about their users. Here's a rather clever use of malware to turn your smartphone into a system for taking clandestine photos -- something we've seen before, of course, in other contexts -- but which then goes even further by stitching them together to form a pretty accurate 3D model of your world:

This paper introduces a novel visual malware called PlaceRaider, which allows remote attackers to engage in remote reconnaissance and what we call virtual theft. Through completely opportunistic use of the camera on the phone and other sensors, PlaceRaider constructs rich, three dimensional models of indoor environments.

The use of 3D reconstructions overcomes a potential problem with ordinary spyware: there's often too much data whose significance is unclear. That makes finding anything interesting hard. The solution here is to combine all the data into a unified, virtual reconstruction that can then be navigated by snoopers looking for significant items just as they might if they were rooting through your physical space.

The full academic paper "PlaceRaider: Virtual Theft in Physical Spaces with Smartphones" (pdf) makes for fascinating reading, even if it doesn't seem to understand the difference between "theft" and "surveillance". It includes the following rather fanciful description of how this 3D-spying capability might be used. It's rather over the top, but it gives an idea of what's theoretically possible:

Alice does not know that her Android phone is running a service, PlaceRaider, that records photos surreptitiously, along with orientation and acceleration sensor data. After on-board analysis, her phone parses the collected images and extracts those that seem to contain valuable information about her environment. At opportune moments, her phone discretely transmits a package of images to a remote PlaceRaider command and control server.

Upon receiving Alice's images, the PlaceRaider command and control server runs a computer vision algorithm to generate a rich 3D model. This model allows Mallory, the remote attacker, to immerse herself easily in Alice's environment. The fidelity of the model allows Mallory to see Alice's calendar, items on her desk surface and the layout of the room. Knowing that the desktop surface might yield valuable information, Mallory zooms into the images that generated the desktop and quickly finds a check that yields Alice's account and routing numbers along with her identity and home address. This provides immediate value. She also sees the wall calendar, noticing the dates that the family will be out of town, and ponders asking an associate who lives nearby to 'visit' the house while the family is away and 'borrow'; the iMac that Mallory sees in Alice's office.

Well, maybe not. But what's more interesting is the way that smartphone malware is able to gather enough information to allow the detailed reconstruction of complex spaces. The paper includes some impressive 3D reconstructions from apparently random images that have been stitched together. These and the research project that produced them are a salutary reminder that useful as they are, smartphones also bring with them new dangers that need to be considered and, ultimately, addressed.

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Filed Under: 3d imagery, malware, mobile, surveillance

42 Comments

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go ask alice, 5 Oct 2012 @ 8:18pm

dumb ass says what.
put a piece of a stickie note over your camera, or talk with your finger over it, place it camera side down when not in use. I missed is how Alice got it on her phone in the first place. Sounds like Alice is an idiot for downloading shit she shouldn't.
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Dave Xanatos, 5 Oct 2012 @ 9:07pm

[this space intentionally left blank]
Anybody else think "Cool! I want my smartphone to map my house!" Can I find this on Google Play?
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Colin, 5 Oct 2012 @ 9:57pm

Umm, what is a close-up view of her inner ear exactly going to tell you?
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Miff (profile), 5 Oct 2012 @ 10:02pm

Re: [this space intentionally left blank]
Yeah, I was going to the comments to say just this!

I'd really like software that does this, but sends the images to me instead of a third party. That'd be cool.
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Optically challanged, 5 Oct 2012 @ 10:31pm

Re:
Yes because every phone has its camera where you put your ear.
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G Thompson (profile), 5 Oct 2012 @ 11:36pm

Re: [this space intentionally left blank]
Actually I immediately thought..

What an amazing idea for crime scene photo's, be they for private usage (ie: insurance claims) or criminal investigations (ie: Police, etc)

WANT!
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Zos (profile), 6 Oct 2012 @ 1:09am

i'm confused. is this something that was found out in the wild, or just a "what if" extrapolating from current capabilities?
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Chilly8, 6 Oct 2012 @ 2:13am

I wonder if there is any way to find out exactly what IP addresses this app connects with. Since my phone uses my wireless route, which goes through Internet Connction Sharing on my PC, I could tell my PC firewall program to block that IP if I knew what it was.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Oct 2012 @ 2:28am

Re: dumb ass says what.
How do you pout the camera side down when both side have a camera?
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The eejit (profile), 6 Oct 2012 @ 2:31am

Re: [this space intentionally left blank]
Think of the uses this has for blind people when becoming accustomed to their new home: Use the software, make a minature 3D model of the home and use your tactile/haptic sonsors to adjust quickly and effectively.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Oct 2012 @ 5:32am

The PDF was TLDR but I have to lean toward this being either a FUD thought experiment or a propaganda piece to sell smartphone antivirus software. When this kind of automatic 3D modelling technology is developed, it won't be done by burglars looking for stuff to steal.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Oct 2012 @ 5:52am

Re:
It's not in the wild, but it does exist.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Oct 2012 @ 7:31am

Re:
I don't doubt there's a scare element involved, but the technology isn't in question. We've been able to do this with a collection of still shots since the early days of CGI, (It's easier to work on each series of frames than to work on the video with very little RAM. Obviously, we're no longer in that paradigm).

I'd say the scare part is that it isn't the phone putting the pieces together, that's just an ordinary take data (photos), send them to IP type thing, and here's an extra thing that the server that receives them can do.

Even if it is the phone, big whoop, the server it sends them to could've done it a long time ago.

Either burglars are already using this, (in which case, provide evidence), or it's too troublesome, or this just gave some burglars a novel idea.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Oct 2012 @ 7:32am

Re: Re:
Actually, y'know what? We've been able to do this to realtime TV feed with multiple camera input since 1997.
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abc gum, 6 Oct 2012 @ 7:42am

Maybe Mallory will post pics of Alice and Bob in the boudoir.
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davebarnes (profile), 6 Oct 2012 @ 8:05am

Only read to page 4
I started reading and got past "proof of concept" and went on to finally see "Android".
Told me all I needed to know.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Oct 2012 @ 8:06am

Paranoia
How long before the usual agencies want to be able to uses anybodies phone cameras when tracking them.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Oct 2012 @ 8:27am

Re: Only read to page 4
Translation: I let my own preconceived notions lead me to a conclusion without the benefit of all the data, and I decided to tell everyone that I have nothing substantive to add to the discussion.
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Dreddsnik, 6 Oct 2012 @ 8:32am

" Told me all I needed to know. "

And what was that ?
I'm a little slow, so I don't get what you now 'know' from
the word 'Android'. Please, be so kind as to clue in the
those of us who are not quite as smart as you.
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Dreddsnik, 6 Oct 2012 @ 8:36am

Re: Only read to page 4
Never mind. A little research shows you to be an 'Apple Guy'.

There shall be no other OS but me.
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Philly Bob, 6 Oct 2012 @ 8:52am

All I ever needed to know about your life
I learned from Android.
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Dale, 6 Oct 2012 @ 10:17am

As malware, this IS truly creepy, but...
...imagine how powerful the underlying software would be for firefighters doing pre-fire plans of a building!
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Oct 2012 @ 10:22am

Re: [this space intentionally left blank]
So, in theory, soon our phone will be capable of keeping up with our keys for us?

Quick, someone port this over to voice activate.."Phone, where are my f-ing keys?"

*bzzzzz*

"Walk forward 3 paces, turn left, lift up the towel, there ya go!"
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Oct 2012 @ 12:26pm

Yup keep on laughing at my Nokia 3310.
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abc gum, 6 Oct 2012 @ 5:28pm

Re: Paranoia
Approximately minus twelve years
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abc gum, 6 Oct 2012 @ 5:35pm

Re: As malware, this IS truly creepy, but...
I'm sure fire fighters are quite capable of doing that without any creepy spy capabilities.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Oct 2012 @ 5:41pm

I read a book once where everyone had this little gizmo they carried around and it recorded everything they said and did to a central server. It was accessible only with a warrant and penalties for unauthorized access were severe, and it made crime almost nonexistent. But when it crashed all hell broke loose because no police were left that knew how to do actual investigations.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Oct 2012 @ 5:42pm

Duct tape: thwarting camera hacks since forever.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Oct 2012 @ 8:11pm

Re: Re: dumb ass says what.
It's the model, not the camera, who does the pouting.
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Havoc (profile), 7 Oct 2012 @ 1:04am

Re:
FTA:
" It includes the following rather fanciful description of how this 3D-spying capability might be used. It's rather over the top, but it gives an idea of what's theoretically possible"
A scare piece, nothing more.
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abc gum, 7 Oct 2012 @ 7:22am

Re:
That book sounds like a horror story of mad dystopia gone full retard, also it's a tad improbable.

Or - it is about religion.
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Chrisrsc, 7 Oct 2012 @ 6:26pm

What about sonar and x-ray to map your room? Can you use it to catch a cheating wife watching tv on the 20th floor while her beau is in the restroom showering and use the image in court?
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Oct 2012 @ 7:47pm

Data fee
High quality images are too large to be ignored based on how todays mobile carriers charge us. This is theorically possible but too early to be a common problem.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Oct 2012 @ 10:06pm

How would this ever actually happen? Does Siri tell you, "Please turn your phone slightly to the left." Click. "A little more now, please..." Click...
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ethorad (profile), 8 Oct 2012 @ 2:41am

Re: Re: [this space intentionally left blank]
Only problem will be:

Phone - where's my pho... oh, wait. Dammit!
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Ninja (profile), 8 Oct 2012 @ 4:47am

They are becoming increasingly invasive. I simply turn off a lot of stuff simply because the apps installed on my phone can't seem to remain shut down and work as I want. Maps keeps executing and trying to find my location, some applications have annoying notifications that I can't turn off and other issues. I'm rooting my device as soon as the warranty expires to get rid of those annoyances and much of the bloatware manufacturers usually install without giving me the option to remove.

I do believe this sort of invasiveness will start to get annoying, questioned and ultimately addressed. Till then we take the needed steps to reduce it.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Oct 2012 @ 6:21am

Curmudgeon FTW
I guess the habit of leaving the phone on a table right next to the front door is paying off. I'm sure they'll get lots of data about my couch and TV, though.
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Cody Jackson (profile), 8 Oct 2012 @ 4:14pm

Possible, but plausible?
With most people I know, this app would only be taking pictures of the inside of a pocket, or maybe the person's lap. How often does someone walk around their house with the camera in a position to be taking pictures of the interior?

Even if someone is using the phone as a phone (less likely nowadays as people tend to text more), they don't tend to wander around the house. In my experience, people park their butts on a chair so they can talk. Walking and talking usually occurs outside the house.
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Sarah @ Sell Your House Fast�, 12 Oct 2012 @ 7:14pm

Interesting! and very great resource you shared.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Oct 2012 @ 9:22am

Re: Re:
For about 3 months, until someone writes it, and another 3 months for it to get much-improved upon by the FBI/CIA/MI6/Mossad/KGB/whoever your fave boogey-man is.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Oct 2012 @ 9:23am

Re: Re: Only read to page 4
You use Windows Millenium? Dood!
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Oct 2012 @ 9:24am

Didn't this already happen...
in The Dark Knight movie? Only outside? Seems standard sci-fi - to - become - reality
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