Hackers Can Steal Information Just By Listening To Your Hard Drive

In terms of ways to hack a computer, this is definitely a strange one! Called the DiskFiltration hack, security researchers have figured out a way to use the sounds of your computer’s hard drive to gather information.

Bloody hell! How does that work?

Well, the hacker gets in by taking control of the hard drive’s actuator - the arm that moves back and forth across the disk to read/write data. 

That clicking sound your computer makes? That’s the hard drive moving. And using the right type of malware, while listening out for the right noises, hackers can get a lot of information out of you.

Should I be worried?

Yes and no. This method of hacking only works up to a maximum of six feet away and only works at a data rate of 180 bits per minute. That’s not fast at all.

Plus, it does not work with solid-state drives - meaning chances are any computer you bought from the end of 2015 onwards will be safe.

But while the idea is really impractical for that reason, they could get something like an encryption key off your computer in half an hour. 

It’s a fascinating-yet-scary new way of intercepting data.