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Topic: Pita Bread Munchers Could Steal Bitcoins from Public Laptops (Read 1378 times)

legendary
Activity: 1848
Merit: 1000
I am sure there are a lot of people working on sneaky ways to steal our bitcoin, at least in the bitcoin world it will be less violent when some tries to mug you although there was that recent mugging at gunpoint http://www.cnbc.com/id/102737187

We just have to 'tool' up in the virtual sense
legendary
Activity: 3514
Merit: 1963
Leading Crypto Sports Betting & Casino Platform
It's going to have a damn hard time getting to my cold storage. I am more worried that they would see the nude pictures of my dog, than the odd dollars I use daily to buy drinks and food. Anyone else smell the ugly troll? It's simple >>Do not store huge amounts of coins in a online wallets<< 
full member
Activity: 168
Merit: 100
I would be way more concerned with nefarious WiFi access to my tablet/laptop. Research and secure your device with VPN, encrypted passwords, 2fa authentication, etc.
legendary
Activity: 2674
Merit: 1083
Legendary Escrow Service - Tip Jar in Profile
A core developer saying that should lay worries to rest. Though even though you say bitcoin is more secure against such potential attacks i wonder if one shouldnt be worried because they claim they perfected stealing pgp-keys. pgp should be really secure too, because of their use cases.
Ok, ill believe you on that anyway. Only wondering why PGP is vulnerable. Its a security software. And they sound pretty confident to being able hack private keys. Why would they when they dont see a chance or tested, before they release it to the press, that they work on it?
Maybe they mentioning bitcoin private keys is only a help for spreading the news.  Roll Eyes
Read the actual report, in particular http://www.tau.ac.il/~tromer/radioexp/  Q11 and Q8.

Ok, strange that they claim a cheap solution is not possible in Q11 but on Q8 the simple solution is a change in software.

Sounds like it can be resolved.

Thanks for explaining!
staff
Activity: 4242
Merit: 8672
A core developer saying that should lay worries to rest. Though even though you say bitcoin is more secure against such potential attacks i wonder if one shouldnt be worried because they claim they perfected stealing pgp-keys. pgp should be really secure too, because of their use cases.
Ok, ill believe you on that anyway. Only wondering why PGP is vulnerable. Its a security software. And they sound pretty confident to being able hack private keys. Why would they when they dont see a chance or tested, before they release it to the press, that they work on it?
Maybe they mentioning bitcoin private keys is only a help for spreading the news.  Roll Eyes
Read the actual report, in particular http://www.tau.ac.il/~tromer/radioexp/  Q11 and Q8.
hero member
Activity: 1582
Merit: 502
Did they really have to put it in a pitta bread? I mean seriously? Regardless, I think there's going to be a real issue with using your bitcoins over public wifi. Even an entry level hacker can get into your computer very easily when you use public wifi.

I don't think they put it in a pitta bread.
They just said it fits in a pitta bread Wink



I think they could have used something better as an example or to compare it to. Nobody measures the sizes of things in pittas.

That's the machine?
It's still not IN the pitta though Tongue

Yeah, they could have used a better comparison. Smiley
legendary
Activity: 2674
Merit: 1083
Legendary Escrow Service - Tip Jar in Profile
Bitcoin Core uses signing which is constant time, constant memory access, and hardened in several other ways against side-channel private key leaks-- and specifically designed to resist these attacks. Actually being leak free also depends on the hardware, but at least in Bitcoin Core the software side of it is much more robust than the kinds of systems they were attacking here.

A core developer saying that should lay worries to rest. Though even though you say bitcoin is more secure against such potential attacks i wonder if one shouldnt be worried because they claim they perfected stealing pgp-keys. pgp should be really secure too, because of their use cases.

Ok, ill believe you on that anyway. Only wondering why PGP is vulnerable. Its a security software. And they sound pretty confident to being able hack private keys. Why would they when they dont see a chance or tested, before they release it to the press, that they work on it?

Maybe they mentioning bitcoin private keys is only a help for spreading the news.  Roll Eyes
sr. member
Activity: 366
Merit: 250
Did they really have to put it in a pitta bread? I mean seriously? Regardless, I think there's going to be a real issue with using your bitcoins over public wifi. Even an entry level hacker can get into your computer very easily when you use public wifi.

I don't think they put it in a pitta bread.
They just said it fits in a pitta bread Wink



I think they could have used something better as an example or to compare it to. Nobody measures the sizes of things in pittas.
member
Activity: 79
Merit: 10
Seems like fud. No doubt we'll get a load of trolls panicking about this now.
staff
Activity: 4242
Merit: 8672
Bitcoin Core uses signing which is constant time, constant memory access, and hardened in several other ways against side-channel private key leaks-- and specifically designed to resist these attacks. Actually being leak free also depends on the hardware, but at least in Bitcoin Core the software side of it is much more robust than the kinds of systems they were attacking here.
hero member
Activity: 1582
Merit: 502
Did they really have to put it in a pitta bread? I mean seriously? Regardless, I think there's going to be a real issue with using your bitcoins over public wifi. Even an entry level hacker can get into your computer very easily when you use public wifi.

I don't think they put it in a pitta bread.
They just said it fits in a pitta bread Wink
legendary
Activity: 3976
Merit: 1421
Life, Love and Laughter...
not sure if OP is trolling, or found an article wrote by a comedian..

A little of both.
sr. member
Activity: 366
Merit: 250
Did they really have to put it in a pitta bread? I mean seriously? Regardless, I think there's going to be a real issue with using your bitcoins over public wifi. Even an entry level hacker can get into your computer very easily when you use public wifi.
AGD
legendary
Activity: 2070
Merit: 1164
Keeper of the Private Key
not sure if OP is trolling, or found an article wrote by a comedian..
it looks like this news is everywhere! http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-33229424

it is not that impressive either, it is not actually that small and does not fit "inside the bread" it is the same size of a bread (see the pictures) it fits in the pocket and it need to be so close to do the stealing.

i'll kick the ass of whoever stands in 50cm distance of my laptop!

i am also skeptical about the way it steals the keys unless i read more about it's technical stuff, and the fact that what exactly on my laptop emits those signals.

Years ago people could read what was on a computer screen by decoding the RF emissions it gave out. If all they are doing is reading what's visible on a screen then I'm not that impressed,. I'm not aware of any significant RF emissions given out by CPUs but I'm impressed if that's what they are decoding.

It was this one: http://www.tomsguide.com/us/airhopper-data-radio-waves,news-19865.html
These techniques are used by LE already for years.
Tip: Instead of people wearing that tinfoil on their head, they can now use it to wrap their computer and monitor to be safe.
To be even more secure, you can extend the tinfoil use against possible future attacks:

hero member
Activity: 686
Merit: 500
I'll just keep my hot wallet coins on my trezor or a carry around amount on my phone, I am not worried about it at all. People who keep all of their coins in a hot wallet on a laptop are crazy anyways.

pita breads hackers could take over your trezor no problem, beware of the pita group taking over bitcoin, lol jking but for real i have seen a few people with their bitcoin wallets open on coffee shops like is all good, is like putting your wallet open in a table just waiting to see whos gonna take a shot at it.
legendary
Activity: 1022
Merit: 1000
I think I'm going to file this under things I'm not going to worry about.  Thanks for the info all the same, it does look like amazing technology.
legendary
Activity: 1554
Merit: 1026
★Nitrogensports.eu★
It is nice to see that Bitcoin is deemed important enough by the developers.. so important that they are working on increasing the device's capabilities to steal Bitcoin private keys. This device would be more relevant in actual spying.
sr. member
Activity: 316
Merit: 250
not sure if OP is trolling, or found an article wrote by a comedian..
it looks like this news is everywhere! http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-33229424

it is not that impressive either, it is not actually that small and does not fit "inside the bread" it is the same size of a bread (see the pictures) it fits in the pocket and it need to be so close to do the stealing.

i'll kick the ass of whoever stands in 50cm distance of my laptop!

i am also skeptical about the way it steals the keys unless i read more about it's technical stuff, and the fact that what exactly on my laptop emits those signals.

Years ago people could read what was on a computer screen by decoding the RF emissions it gave out. If all they are doing is reading what's visible on a screen then I'm not that impressed,. I'm not aware of any significant RF emissions given out by CPUs but I'm impressed if that's what they are decoding.
legendary
Activity: 2156
Merit: 1393
You lead and I'll watch you walk away.
You could put your laptop in a faraday cage. Or



You could use this cooling mat to block the rf energy and save your twig and two berries from unnecessary radiation.

legendary
Activity: 2674
Merit: 1083
Legendary Escrow Service - Tip Jar in Profile
Pretty surely it only can steal anything that is worked on in the cpu. So when you send a bitcoin transaction in the sandwich shop and the scammy seller behind the bar has such a device, then he might get the private key for the sending address. Which should only be a problem as long as the address is still filled after that. So if you use change addresses then you are fine.

Unfortunately change addresses are a superb tool to connect all the addresses that belong to a wallet. Destroying anonymity on the way.
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