46
How secure is sending files over Bluetooth?
(lemmy.ml)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2025
46 points (96.0% liked)
Privacy
32177 readers
1016 users here now
A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.
Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.
Some Rules
- Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn't great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
- Don't promote proprietary software
- Try to keep things on topic
- If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
- Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
- Be nice :)
Related communities
much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
It’s actually entirely horse shit.
Only the very newest products that are on the latest standard are secure.
It all look secure and sounds secure and feels secure with all the encryption….
But about 2 years ago there was a downgrade attack that was proven to affect basically everything.
Bluetooth security might as well be a flashing neon sign of your data.
Now it’s not quite that simple and some people have updated their devices etc……
But almost nobody actually has done that because Bluetooth devices are “fire and forget”
I mean when’s the last time you updated the firmware on your headphones or keyboard?
Mostly “never”
You have to be pretty close to sniff Bluetooth data though. So fine at home, less so in a busy public space. (The chances of someone there trying to hack your Bluetooth is still astranomically small)
Low odds because “you aren’t worth the effort required” agreed.
But the distance officially is like 33 feet to 300 feet depending on the adapter.
But its between Android and a Laptop, surely OP update those, right?
The firmware on the devices likely isn’t updated much by the manufacturers.
So “it really depends”
Unfortunately unlike WiFi, the encryption is built into the firmware in ways that don’t update much because they make everything backwards compatible so you don’t notice.
Android will update and restart your shit without consent at night so your phone doesn't fully boot and your alarm doesn't go off. Ask how I know.
There's a way (at least on samsung) to disable auto updates.
Turn off "Auto update over wifi", then mark all wifi networks as "metered". Voila! The system will treat wifi as mobile data and not auto download the update.
Btw, in modern android versions, alarm will work in BFU (Before First Unlock) mode if you use the system clock app. (~~third-party alarm apps will not work in BFU mode~~ Actually, third-party alarm apps do work)
Then there's a nonzero chance I coincidentally slept through it or shut it off while sleeping.