Hacking a Sniper Rifle Using WiFi

Security researchers Runa Sandvik and Michael Auger have shown Wired a way to break into the rifle and shut it down or, even worse, change the target to the hacker’s choosing.

The vulnerability was found in a TP 750 sniper rifle created by Tracking Point, it is a computer assisted, self-aiming, long ranged sniper rifle. It’s targeting system guarantees foolproof accuracy by not firing when a shooter pulls the trigger, but instead only after the barrel is lined up with the target.

The $30,000 rifle promises accuracy for even novice shooters, however security researchers have found a way to hack a gun via its wifi connection.

Runa Sandvik told wired:

We have found that we could make the shooter miss the shot, either by just a tiny bit or completely off, even to the point of hitting the target that is next to one shooter is aiming for.

Tracking Point’s rifles offer a wifi connection that allows nearby computers to stream the video from scope or even change settings like wind, temperature and ammunition weight. Security researchers found a way to change these values so that they don’t appear on a screen. By this method they were able to change targets without a shooters knowledge, make it impossible to discover that a hacker is actually controlling a rifle

The hackers recently gave Wired a demonstration of their attack and plan to present their findings at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas in August.

Source Wired,

Photo by Greg Kah from Wired