What is bluebugging, and how is it used to hack Bluetooth-enabled devices?

Cybersecurity experts have noted that specific apps that let users connect smartphones or laptops to wireless earplugs can record conversations, through a process called bluebugging.

About Bluebugging:

• Background: Independent security researcher Martin Herfurt blogged about the threat of bluebugging as early as 2004.
• Bluebugging is a technique that allows skilled hackers to access mobile commands on Bluetooth-enabled devices that are in discoverable mode.
• Bluebugging is similar to phone eavesdropping, or bugging.
• Once a connection is established, hackers can use “brute force attacks” to bypass authentication. It uses trial-and-error to guess login info, and encryption keys, or find a hidden web page.

Who are Vulnerable to bluebugging?

• Devices on discoverable mode: Because discoverable mode is a default setting, most Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones and devices are automatically vulnerable to bluebugging attacks.
  • Bluebugging can happen whenever a Bluetooth-enabled device is within a 10-meter radius of the hacker.
  • Hackers can use booster antennas to widen the attack range.
• Devices not in discoverable mode: Certain tools - such as RedFang and BlueSniff - allow hackers to infiltrate Bluetooth-enabled devices that are not in discoverable mode.

How does bluebugging hack devices?

• The hackers first try to pair with the device via Bluetooth.
• Once a connection is established, hackers can use brute force attacks to bypass authentication.
  • A brute force attack uses trial-and-error to guess login info, and encryption keys, or find a hidden web page.
• They can later install the malware in the compromised device to gain unauthorized access to it.

Ways to prevent:

• Turning off Bluetooth and disconnecting paired Bluetooth devices when not in use
• Updating the device’s system software to the latest version
• Limiting the use of public Wi-Fi
• Using VPN as an additional security measure
• Monitor sudden spikes in data usage

Instances of Cyber-attack in India:

• The number of cyberattacks on the Indian healthcare industry was the second highest globally in the segment.

• 7 percent of the attacks on healthcare being witnessed in the country in 2021, according to cyber security intelligence firm CloudSEK.
• CloudSEK is among the entities that provide cyber threat intelligence to the Indian cybersecurity watchdog CERT-In.
• The recent AIIMS cyberattack exposes the vulnerability of Indian healthcare.
  • The cyberattack not only froze everyday work at AIIMS but also put the patients’ credentials in danger.

Challenges to tackle the menace:

• Dependence on outdated or legacy infrastructure
• Accelerated digital adoption, over a short span of time
• Limited understanding of cyber security
• Fragmented and unorganized cyber security infrastructure
• Increasing instances of Social Engineering attacks
• Attacks using emerging technology: Machine learning poisoning is one of the most prevalent methods used to attack ML (Machine Learning) systems. AI fuzzing is another tool primarily used to detect, identify and fix cyber-attack vulnerabilities.

Initiatives are taken by the Indian Government for Cyber Security:

• Indian National Security Council: To shape the ecosystem related to cyber policy.
• Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In): For alerts regarding Cybersecurity breaches and issues.
• Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C): To handle several issues regarding cybercrime in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.
• Cyber Swachhta Kendra: To create a secure cyberspace by detecting botnet infections in India
• National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Center (NCIIPC): To protect critical information about our country, this has an enormous impact on national security, economic growth, and public health care.
• Personal Data Protection Bill 2022: The Bill offers significant concessions on cross-border data flows, in a departure from the previous Bill’s contentious requirement of local storage of data within India’s geography.
• National Cyber Security Policy, 2013: The Policy’s goal is to create safe and resilient cyberspace for citizens, businesses, and the Government.