Optical TEMPEST

TL;DR

This paper reviews the evolution of optical TEMPEST vulnerabilities, highlighting new threat vectors in modern systems like IoT, HFT, GDPR, and drones, emphasizing ongoing relevance for privacy and security design.

Contribution

It provides an overview of the historical development and recent trends in optical TEMPEST vulnerabilities, emphasizing their importance in current technological contexts.

Findings

Vulnerabilities have evolved with system changes.

New threat vectors have emerged in IoT, HFT, GDPR, and drones.

Security vulnerabilities are dynamic and require continuous attention.

Abstract

Research on optical TEMPEST has moved forward since 2002 when the first pair of papers on the subject emerged independently and from widely separated locations in the world within a week of each other. Since that time, vulnerabilities have evolved along with systems, and several new threat vectors have consequently appeared. Although the supply chain ecosystem of Ethernet has reduced the vulnerability of billions of devices through use of standardised PHY solutions, other recent trends including the Internet of Things (IoT) in both industrial settings and the general population, High Frequency Trading (HFT) in the financial sector, the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and inexpensive drones have made it relevant again for consideration in the design of new products for privacy. One of the general principles of security is that vulnerabilities, once fixed, sometimes do not stay that way.