SoniControl 2.0

Wer sind wir? Matthias Zeppelzauer is Professor and Alexis Ringot Junior Researcher at the Media Computing (MC) Group at St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences, FHSTP. We are principal investigators of the SoniControl firewall. Our motivation is the protection of privacy of end users against acoustic tracking.

Für wen ist es? It is for those who care about privacy: end users of mobile devices, companies willing to protect their business against attacks via covert channels, and companies from the security domain who want to extend their firewalls/virus scanners with our technology. Building upon the success of the previous project “SoniControl”, the goal is to add advanced features to reach a larger target group.

Was ist es? “Data over audio” is an emerging technology which is used already by companies like Lisnr and Google. It bears, however, numerous security and privacy concerns. Sound and especially the inaudible frequencies (ultrasound) can be used as a side channel to track internet users and their behavior across different devices without their knowledge. SoniControl aims at the privacy protection of end users and represents a first means to effectively prevent ultrasonic tracking.

Wie funktioniert es? Ultrasonic tracking uses the mics and loudspeakers of our smartphones. SoniControl can detect ultrasonic signals and enables to efficiently block them. SoniControl 2.0 will add novel functions for sharing detections with other users for improved security and advanced diagnostic features (message visualization, sonification ; recognition) to give users more intuitive and understandable feedback.