Ross Bevington (a security researcher) found that an E-cigarette can hack a computer by fooling it to think that it was a keyboard. It was also able to hack the computer by interfering with its network traffic.
For those unfamiliar, an electronic cigarette or e-cigarette is a handheld electronic device that creates an aerosol by heating a liquid. The user then inhales the aerosol. Using e-cigarettes is sometimes called vaping. The liquid in the e-cigarette, called e-liquid, is usually made of nicotine, propylene glycol, glycerine, and flavorings.
Hackers always trying to find new methods to hack their victims. This security issue happens because most of the e-cigarettes come with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, that can be plugged into a cable or directly connects to the USB port of the computer.
The researcher said to SkyNews:
“He had modified the vape pen by simply adding a hardware chip which allowed the device to communicate with the laptop as if it were a keyboard or mouse – A pre-written script that was saved on the vape made Windows open up the Notepad application and typed “Do you even vape bro!!!!”
E-cigarettesers users are recommended to disable data pins on the USB and keep only cable charge to prevent any data exchange between the devices it connects to avoid such attacks.
