An Efficient Secret Communication Scheme for the Bosonic Wiretap Channel

We propose a new secret communication scheme over the bosonic wiretap channel. It uses readily available hardware such as lasers and direct photodetectors. The scheme is based on randomness extractors, pulse-position modulation, and Reed-Solomon codes and is therefore computationally efficient. I...

A $500 Open Source Tool Lets Anyone Hack Computer Chips With Lasers

The RayV Lite will make it hundreds of times cheaper for anyone to carry out physics-bending feats of hardware hacking...

Manipulating Systems Using Remote Lasers

Many systems are vulnerable: Researchers at the time said that they were able to launch inaudible commands by shining lasers -- from as far as 360 feet -- at the microphones on various popular voice assistants, including Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, Facebook Portal, and Google Assistant. … They...

Hackers Can Use Lasers to ‘Speak’ to Your Amazon Echo or Google Home

By sending laser-powered “light commands” to a smart assistant, researchers could force it to unlock cars, open garage doors, and more...

Disabling Security Cameras with Lasers

There's a really interesting video of protesters in Hong Kong using some sort of laser to disable security cameras. I know nothing more about the technologies involved...

Trump's Missile Defense Plan Creates More Problems Than It Solves

The Trump administration has presented its Missile Defense Review, and yes, there are lasers...

5 New Nonlethal Weapons the Defense Department Is Developing

The US Department of Defense's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program is testing a new arsenal powered by lasers, plasma, chemical irritants, and more...

Laser Gun to Detect Bombs and Chemical Weapons from 100 Feet Away

In Brief US-based Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity IARPA agency is sponsoring a program to build portable laser sensors that could detect explosives, narcotics and other dangerous chemical weapons from 100 feet away. Dubbed SILMARILS Standoff Illuminator for Measuring Absorbance a...