Sometimes even the best consumer gadgets can have problems, and a new academic study has revealed a weakness in Google’s Fast Pair system which can be exploited with certain audio devices, allowing them to be taken over by others. It can apply to people who’ve never owned a Google product and just use an iPhone. As ever, updating your audio devices brings new features and peace of mind.
The good news is there’s currently no evidence that the vulnerability has yet been exploited in the wild, and many of the audio devices have now had software updates to try to mitigate the problem. In other words, don’t panic, but if your headphones are from one of the brands mentioned below, check the manufacturer’s app is current.
What Is Google Fast Pair?
Google Fast Pair is a convenient way of pairing Bluetooth gadgets with Android and ChromeOS just by tapping a phone against headphones, earbuds or another accessory. However, researchers at a Belgian university have found a series of vulnerabilities in audio products from multiple brands.
Google Fast Pair can enable others “to connect with that same seamless convenience to hundreds of millions of earbuds, headphones, and speakers… even if the victim is an iPhone user who has never owned a Google product,” Wired reported.
Which Headphones And Earbuds Brands Are Affected?
The tests were made on audio accessories from 10 different brands: Sony, JBL, Marshall, Nothing, OnePlus, Xiaomi, Jabra, Soundcore, Logitech, and Google. The warning from the study is that just as you update your iPhone or Pixel, say, you should be regularly checking for updates to the Sony, Nothing or other apps.
Bad actors, the study showed, could let anyone within Bluetooth range pair with audio peripherals and “hijack them,” as the report put it.
This could mean someone playing their own audio through your headphones, even controlling the volume, or take control of built-in microphones to listen in.
What’s more, two brands, Sony and Google, had another weakness on certain products compatible with Google’s device geolocation tracking feature, Find Hub. This “could also be exploited to allow stealthy, high-resolution stalking,” the report said.
How iPhone Users Can Be Affected
Five models of Sony earbuds and headphones, plus Google’s Pixel Buds Pro 2 earbuds were found to have a vulnerability, the study claimed, which applied even if the devices had never been linked to a Google account, for instance, if the earbuds had only been paired with an iPhone, which could lead to the owner’s movements been tracked.
Again, check your headphones and other accessories are bang up to date.