Place Raider can seem an application created by expert thieves, but it has been studied at Indiana University and developed at the Naval Surface Warfare Center for scientific purposes. It’s a Trojans, PlaceRaider, which, hiding in photo apps similar to Instagram and Hipstamatic, is able to enter in smartphones, take pictures and create 3D models of environments in which the unfortunate live in or visit, with a precision that allows to observe in detail the objects.
Place Raider – Created by Scientists
In addition, Place Raider would be able to listen live what is happening around, transforming the mobile phone into a real spyphone. So a prying eye might creep into our homes.
At the basis of the project there are the technologies that allow you to rotate images shown on the displays of smartphones. Some additional options would allow to the hackers to take and receive photos only when they are interested, to understand if smartphone is upside down or in the owner’s pocket, to automatically mute the sounds of shooting and to cover preview images of the photos just taken.
Collected data and images, the hacker, he will be able to create a 3D model of the environment in which the owner of the phone moved, calmly
observe the objects and obtain valuable informations. For the moment, we can rest assured: this technology is guarded in the laboratory, but soon hackers engaged in industrial espionage or national security or common apartment thieves, could get hold and so it will be necessary take countermeasures.
In the domestic environment, have already been tested systems for bug sweeping that allow you to find microcameras, bugs and transmitters. Meanwhile, there is no danger for smartphones equipped with iOS and Windows Phone systems bacause at the moment the virus works only on Android.