Security and privacy in the age of cordless power world

Abstract

In this work, we conduct the first study to explore the potential security and privacy vulnerabilities of cordless power transfer techniques, particularly Qi wireless charging for mobile devices. We demonstrate the communication established between the charger and the charging device could be easily interfered with and eavesdropped. Specifically, through stealthily placing an adversarial coil on the wireless charger, an adversary can hijack the communication channel and inject malicious data bits which can take control of the charging process. Moreover, by simply taping two wires on the wireless charger, an adversary can eavesdrop Qi messages, which carry rich information highly correlated with the charging device's activities, from the measured primary coil voltage. We examine the extent to which this side-channel leaks private information about the smartphone's activities while being charged (e.g., detect and identify incoming calls and messages from different apps). Experimental results demonstrate the capability of an adversary to inject any desired malicious packets to take over the charging process, and the primary coil voltage side channel can leak private information of the smartphone's activities while being charged.