Wireless mouse users are now at risk of hacking as this device could be used as a tool to take over their computer. This was revealed in a report by security firm Bastille, which identified a security flaw that affects dongle-link devices manufactured by Logitech, Dell, HP, Microsoft and Amazon Basics, among others.
"If you have a wireless mouse, I can attach and impersonate a wireless keyboard and arbitrarily send it any commands I want to your computer," Chris Rouland, Bastille founder, told CBS News. Once hackers get in, "they can do anything to your computer that you could as if you were sitting at it."
As demonstrated by security experts at Bastille, all hackers need is a $15 antenna called Crazyradio, which can transmit signals to the computer's bluetooth dongle pretending that it is a wireless mouse. Once the link is successful, the hacker could virtually do everything with the compromised computer such as wipe out the hard drive and steal files, according to CNET.
Responding to Bastille's claim, Logitech downplayed the mouse hack. "The vulnerability would be complex to replicate and would require physical proximity to the target," the company was quoted as saying in a Forbes report. "It is therefore a difficult and unlikely path of attack." Despite this position, however, Logitech has scrambled to build a patch that could address the security issue. If you use one of the company's wireless products, you can download it HERE.
If your wireless mouse or bluetooth dongle manufacturer has not released a patch, the best way to move forward is to ditch these devices entirely as the hack can be perpetrated by an attacker 100 meters away.
