News

ATHENE scientists find security vulnerabilities in Tapplock Bluetooth locks

Researchers at Fraunhofer SIT were able to pick Bluetooth locks from the US manufacturer Tapplock in seconds using simple means. All they needed was a homemade directional radio antenna made from crisp cans and two commercially available mini-computers. The manufacturer was informed about the vulnerabilities and has since fixed them in one of its models.

© Fraunhofer SIT

New research project from ATHENE: Disinformation and Corona (DisCo)

Disinformation and fake news are circulating around the world about the corona pandemic. Especially on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, people share news that have not been checked, so that it spreads rapidly. "We are not only fighting a pandemic, but also an info-demie," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General. Researchers at Fraunhofer SIT want to meet this challenge in the DisCo project from the ATHENE research area Secure Digital Transformation in Health Care (SeDiTraH).

© Ulrike Albrecht

Apple AirDrop shares more than files

ATHENE researchers from TU Darmstadt have discovered that Apple users can not only share files with each other using AirDrop. Rather, uninvited persons can also access data. The resarchers developed a solution that could replace the insecure AirDrop. Apple was informed about the privacy gap, but has not yet closed it.

© Milan Stute

ATHENE researchers reveal vulnerabilities in the Apple operating system macOs

A research team led by ATHENE scientist Prof. Matthias Hollick from the TU Darmstadt has uncovered security gaps in the tracking app "Find my iPhone?" Offered by the Apple group.

In their paper “Who Can Find My Devices?” They publish the two vulnerabilities they identified in the macOS operating system. They presented the paper at the inter­national flagship conference for data protection technologies "PETS - Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium".

VeraCrypt with minor flaws

Fraunhofer SIT press relase (German):
In der kostenlosen Open-Source-Verschlüsselungssoftware VeraCrypt wurden keine gravierenden Sicherheitslücken gefunden, allerdings gibt es Verbesserungsbedarf bei der Entwicklungspraxis und der Codequalität. Das ist das Ergebnis einer Sicherheitsanalyse der Expertinnen und Experten des Fraunhofer-Instituts für Sichere Informations­technologie SIT in Darmstadt, die im Auftrag des Bundesamts für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik BSI durchgeführt wurde. Die vollständigen Ergebnisse der Analyse sind in einer Studie zusammengefasst, die von der Webseite des BSI heruntergeladen werden kann: Download der Studie