Criminals could pick up your voice through a foot-thick concrete wall, thanks to AI and a flaw in popular laptop microphones - here's what you need to know

Date:
Sun, 22 Jun 2025 18:32:00 +0000

Description:
Researchers claim AI and FM radio gear can capture laptop microphone signals through walls, revealing speech and exposing users to silent, undetectable surveillance risks.

FULL STORY

A new form of eavesdropping uses artificial intelligence to recover speech
from devices through walls.

A report by eeNews outline how it exploits a vulnerability in widely used
MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) microphones, and the most affected devices are laptops, due in part to their internal wiring design.

Researchers from the University of Florida and Japans University of Electro-Communications demonstrated even through a 25 cm concrete barrier, attackers can accurately reconstruct speech using nothing more than an FM receiver, a copper antenna, and machine learning tools.

So, why laptops?

The microphones in many laptops are connected via long, unshielded wires, effectively turning them into antennas, the researchers note.

With an FM radio receiver and a copper antenna, you can eavesdrop on these microphones. Thats how easy this can beIt costs maybe a hundred dollars, or even less, said Prof. Sara Rampazzi at the University of Florida.

The research revealed an accuracy of up to 94.2% in recognizing spoken
digits, while OpenAIs generative models achieved a transcription error rate
as low as 6.5%.

The researchers examined several MEMS microphones, including the MP34DT01-M from STMicroelectronics, Knowles SPM0405 (now Synaptics), TDK InvenSense CS-41350 and T3902, and Vespers VM3000 (now part of Qualcomm).

These microphones emit electromagnetic signals that can leak acoustic data through radio harmonics.

According to STMicroelectronics, this is an intrinsic behavior of Digital PDM MEMS microphones, and the design used in laptops often lacks shielding,
turning flat cables into ideal antennas.

To mitigate this risk, experts recommend relocating microphones within
laptops to reduce cable length and shielding the wires. They also propose
using spread spectrum clocking to reduce the intelligibility of emissions without affecting performance.

These fixes are relatively simple, but they are relevant for newer devices moving forward.

What about pre-existing devices, then?

Regular users need to invest in the best antivirus or endpoint protection solutions , which offer some protection even though they are not explicitly listed to defend against this new threat.

These tools typically operate at the software level and may not detect
passive attacks that dont involve code execution or system compromise.

For individuals seeking the best identity theft protection , this research shows that even conversations assumed to be private may be within reach of sophisticated, low-cost surveillance.

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/criminals-could-pick-up-your-voice-thro ugh-a-foot-thick-concrete-wall-thanks-to-ai-and-a-flaw-in-popular-laptop-micro phones-heres-what-you-need-to-know

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