A sophisticated attack that allows eavesdropping on Android users

A team of researchers has developed a new attack to eavesdrop on Android devices, which is so sophisticated that it can, to varying degrees, recognize the gender and identity of a caller, and even recognize speech.

The developed side-channel attack, called EarSpy, aims to explore new eavesdropping capabilities by capturing motion sensor data recordings generated by the feedback from earphones on mobile devices.

This type of attack has previously been detected in smartphone speakers, but it is still too weak to generate enough vibration to put users at risk of eavesdropping.

However, modern smartphones use more powerful stereo speakers compared to models released a few years ago, and are able to deliver much better sound quality and stronger vibrations.