How many times do you think you use Wi-Fi in a day? Between our televisions, phones and laptops, I think it’s safe to say we rely heavily on the use of a strong Wi-Fi connection to get us through work and to enjoy our hobbies. But exactly how safe is our Wi-Fi connection?
We were first introduced to wireless technology in the late 90’s, which followed the introduction of Bluetooth in 1994.
While there have been obvious benefits to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth – think wireless headphones, Netflix, mobile phones and laptops – there are apparently fairly significant security risks associated with the use of wireless technology.
Your Bluetooth Headphones Could be Spying on You!
Many of us are pretty tech-savvy, watching out for online scammers and covering our webcams to avoid being spied on, but apparently this might not be enough to protect our privacy.
Before we dive into the security threats surrounding wireless technology, let’s first look at how it works. Surprisingly, Wi-Fi is actually an Australian invention, founded in 1992 by Dr. John O’Sullivan and his colleagues at the CSIRO.
Wi-Fi was created using mathematics and was actually developed to record nanosecond pulses of radio waves coming from exploding blackholes.
“CSIRO’s technology was actually called Wireless LAN, short for local area network. The catchy title we know it by today – Wi-Fi – was actually the work of a branding agency, Interbrand, who also designed its little symbol of waves expanding from a point,” Cosmos Magazine journalist Petra Stock said.
While Wi-Fi was an Australian invention, Bluetooth was actually invented in Norway. Both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth operate on airwaves.
“While AM and FM radio transmits in the kilohertz or megahertz, radio frequencies, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth operate in the higher gigahertz range along with your household microwave.”
The fact that they operate on radio frequencies is apparently what makes them susceptible to security risks.
Petra Stock explains how Wi-Fi and Bluetooth work, why Vice-President Kamala Harris refuses to use Bluetooth headphones and how Wi-Fi can be used to see through walls.
Subscribe to The Briefing, Australia’s fastest-growing news podcast on Listnr today. The Briefing serves up the latest news headlines and a deep dive into a topic affecting you. All in under 20 minutes.