[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4Cast #780: Wired earbuds are inherently more secure

[OPLIN OPLIN]

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.
<http://www.oplin.org/4cast/>
[image: OPLIN 4Cast]

OPLIN 4Cast #780: Wired earbuds are inherently more secure
December 8th, 2021

[image: Wired earbuds] A puff piece in Politico this week poked fun at Vice
President Kamala Harris's use of wired earbuds
<https://www.politico.com/newsletters/west-wing-playbook/2021/12/06/kamala-harris-is-bluetooth-phobic-495343>
and her preference for texting over e-mail, calling her "Bluetooth-phobic"
and paranoid. "Should someone who travels with the nuclear football be
spending time untangling her headphone wires?," they ask. Given that there
are 495 publicly disclosed vulnerabilities
<https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvekey.cgi?keyword=bluetooth> in Bluetooth,
I'd say it's not paranoia if someone is really spying on you.

   -
   - The vice president should not be using Bluetooth headphones
   <https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/7/22822431/kamala-harris-bluetooth-security-hacking-headphones>
   [*The Verge*] "With Bluetooth switched on, a phone, laptop or other
   smart device is constantly broadcasting a signal that can be detected by
   other devices in range — which provides an unnecessary vector for attack
   that can easily be eliminated by simply keeping Bluetooth off.
   - Kamala Harris is on to something: AirPods are bad
   <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/dec/07/kamala-harris-airpods-bad-people>
   [*The Guardian*] "Bluetooth technology has been around since the late
   1980s, and while its security has improved over the years, it remains
   vulnerable to “man in the middle attacks”: an attacker could intercept and
   decrypt the signal between the phone and the Bluetooth device, allowing
   them to listen in to whatever audio is being transmitted."
   - Is Bluetooth Really a Security Risk? Why Kamala Harris Insists on
   Wired Headphones
   <https://www.newsweek.com/bluetooth-devices-security-risk-kamala-harris-headphones-1656726>
   [*Newsweek*] "It is true that, for most people, Bluetooth security
   needn't be a massive concern, but it does make sense for somebody in
   Harris' position to be extra vigilant. In fact, a cyber security sheet from
   the National Security Agency (NSA) warns that malicious actors can indeed
   compromise wireless technologies like Bluetooth and Near Field
   Communications."
   - Kamala Harris Is Right: Bluetooth Is a Security Risk
   <https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkpgd7/kamala-harris-is-right-bluetooth-is-a-security-risk>
   [*Motherboard*] "If you are not the Vice President of the United States,
   it’s absolutely OK to use Bluetooth headphones. It all depends on your
   threat model, which is cybersecurity speak for assessing your personal
   risks and how likely you are to get hacked or surveilled."

*From the Ohio Web Library <http://ohioweblibrary.org>:*

   - Risley, Chris. “Radio Frequency: An Airborne Threat to Corporate and
   Government Networks: Radio Frequency Espionage Is a Growing Concern for
   Cybersecurity, and This Trend Is Bound to Continue
   <https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=144365328&site=ehost-live>
   .” *Security*, vol. 57, no. 7, July 2020, pp. 30–31.
   - “Amp’s IT Director on the Technology (and the Pitfalls) of Wireless
   Technology
   <https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=14514856&site=ehost-live>
   .” *Building Design*, Sept. 2004, p. 23.
   - Kaur, Satwant. “How to Secure Our Bluetooth Insecure World!
   <https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=87072505&site=ehost-live>
   ” *IETE Technical Review*, vol. 30, no. 2, Mar. 2013, pp. 95–101.

------------------------------
The *OPLIN 4cast* is a weekly compilation of recent headlines, topics, and
trends that could impact public libraries. You can subscribe to it in a
variety of ways, such as:

   - *RSS feed.* You can receive the OPLIN 4cast via RSS feed by
   subscribing to the following URL:
   http://www.oplin.org/4cast/index.php/?feed=rss2.
   - *E-mail.* You can have the OPLIN 4cast delivered via e-mail (a'la
   OPLINlist and OPLINtech) by subscribing to the 4cast mailing list at
   http://lists.oplin.org/mailman/listinfo/OPLIN4cast.

© 2021 Ohio Public Library Information Network
[image: Find us on Slideshare] <http://www.slideshare.net/oplin>  [image:
Find us on Facebook] <http://www.facebook.com/oplin.org>  [image: Find us
on Google+] <https://plus.google.com/107751358238995507967>  [image: Find
us on Twitter] <http://www.twitter.com/oplin>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.oplin.org/pipermail/oplin4cast/attachments/20211208/c8bc88cc/attachment.htm>