A standard headphone is basically a tiny microphone when plugged into a standard line in jack with its vibrations transformed into electromagnetic signals. This inspires a group of Israeli researchers who has taken further steps in creating a malware that can record conversations though a headphone.
According to Gizmodo, a malware was created by the researchers at Ben Gurion University in Israel, which will turn the headphones into a microphone that can slyly record conversations. The malware is dubbed "Speake(a)r" that works through a software.
The Speake(a)r malware is using a feature of RealTek audio codec chips to secretly retask the output channel as an input channel of a computer. According to Wired, this permits the malware to make an audio recording even when the headphone is still connected into an output with a jack alone and without a microphone channel.
The Israeli researches also said that the RealTek audio codec chips are not rare since it can work on any desktop computer running a Windows or MacOS as well as on most laptops. With a test conducted on the Speake(a)r malware, the researchers were able to record sound from 20 feet away using a pair of Sennheiser headphones and the recording is still evident even after it was compressed.
Mordechai Guri, the research lead of Ben Gurion's Cyber Security Research Labs said that people don't actually expect how vulnerable privacies are following the Speake(a)r malware invention. "Even if you remove your computer's microphone, if you use headphones you can be recorded. It's very effective. Your headphones do make a good, quality microphone," he said.
Guri also added that there is a little to no simple software patch for the Speake(a)r malware since the RealTek's audio codec chips permits a program in switching an output channel to an input channel is not an accidental bug. He also said that it can't be patched easily without an effort to redesign and to replace the chip in future computers.