Wireless communication has become the backbone of modern connectivity, but its ubiquity brings an ever-growing set of vulnerabilities. The latest data highlights an alarming trend: the number of wireless-related Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) continues to increase annually.

The chart below shows that the cumulative count of wireless-related CVEs has skyrocketed since tracking began in 1998. A staggering 716 new wireless CVEs appeared in 2024 alone, accounting for 20% of all wireless-related CVEs recorded over the past 27 years. That is a one-fifth increase in known wireless vulnerabilities in just one year.

This sharp increase underscores a key challenge in cybersecurity: what we know is only the tip of the iceberg. Published CVEs represent vulnerabilities researchers have identified, documented, and disclosed to the public. However, they have yet to uncover many more vulnerabilities, some already known to malicious actors who exploit them before they are publicly acknowledged or patched.

Complexity Breeds Vulnerability

Why are we seeing this exponential growth in wireless vulnerabilities? One major factor is the increasing complexity of wireless protocols and systems. Wireless specifications become more intricate as technology evolves to support new use cases, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), smart cities, and advanced industrial automation. Each layer of added complexity introduces potential new attack vectors.

Consider the technologies driving this growth:

• Wi-Fi: The backbone of personal and corporate wireless connectivity continues to evolve, but each iteration brings new vulnerabilities.
• Bluetooth: Although Bluetooth is ubiquitous in consumer devices, its vulnerabilities have risen sharply as more critical applications leverage it.
• Cellular: As 5G networks expand and new protocols develop, the attack surface for cellular vulnerabilities grows alongside them.
• Zigbee and Other IoT Protocols: With IoT devices proliferating across homes, businesses, and industries, attackers increasingly target protocols like Zigbee.

These technology interactions and the integration into increasingly complex ecosystems create a perfect storm for vulnerabilities to thrive.

For every published CVE, countless others may lurk beneath the surface, unknown to researchers but actively exploited by malicious actors. These zero-day vulnerabilities pose significant risks, particularly to organizations that rely on wireless communication for mission-critical operations. The stakes are higher than ever, from corporate data centers to industrial control systems.

Mitigating the Threat

The accelerating pace of CVE growth highlights the need for proactive measures to secure wireless environments. Organizations must:

1. Adopt Continuous Monitoring: Implement systems that provide 100% passive wireless monitoring, like Bastille’s solution, to detect and mitigate threats in real-time without disrupting operations.
2. Prioritize Patch Management: Ensure timely updates to address known vulnerabilities, primarily as new CVEs are published.
3. Invest in Threat Intelligence: Stay ahead of emerging threats by leveraging threat intelligence to understand the evolving landscape.
4. Embrace Zero Trust Architecture: Apply zero trust principles to wireless networks, limiting access and verifying all connections.

How Bastille Can Help

Bastille Networks offers a comprehensive solution to tackle the growing threat of wireless vulnerabilities. By providing 100% passive monitoring, Bastille ensures that organizations can detect and analyze wireless threats without introducing additional risks or disruptions.

Key features of Bastille’s platform include:

• Real-Time Threat Detection: Bastille’s system identifies wireless anomalies and potential attacks as they happen, enabling organizations to respond immediately.
• Comprehensive Coverage: The platform monitors all major wireless protocols, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, and IoT standards like Zigbee, offering a unified view of the wireless threat landscape.
• Granular Insights: Bastille provides detailed information about detected vulnerabilities, empowering security teams to investigate and mitigate risks effectively.
• Scalability and Flexibility: Designed to integrate seamlessly into diverse environments, Bastille supports a wide-ranging set of use cases, from corporate networks to industrial systems.

With Bastille’s solution, organizations gain unparalleled visibility into their wireless environments. This visibility allows them to uncover and address vulnerabilities before attackers exploit them. In an era of accelerating wireless CVEs, Bastille equips businesses with the tools to stay ahead of the curve.

Looking Ahead

As wireless technology evolves, so do its vulnerabilities. The exponential growth of CVEs underscores a critical reality: we must stay vigilant and proactive in addressing known and unknown threats. Complexity may breed vulnerability, but through continuous innovation and robust security practices, we can mitigate the risks and ensure that wireless communication is a secure cornerstone of modern life.

Let’s continue the conversation. What steps is your organization taking to secure its wireless ecosystem in the face of these growing threats?

I’ve been using a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra for the past three years, and up until yesterday, it had served me well. But then, I woke up to a frustrating surprise—despite being plugged in all night, my phone was stuck at 12% battery.

Even worse, a message on the screen read:

“Charging halted because battery temperature is too low for safe charging.”

That was odd because my phone wasn’t cold—it was around 70°F (21°C). I unplugged and replugged it, switched cables, tried different chargers, but nothing worked.

Diagnosing the Problem

A quick online search led me to a likely culprit: a faulty temperature sensor. According to several sources, the temperature sensor inside the inductive charging coil had likely failed, preventing the battery from charging.

The fix? Replace the coil.

I checked Amazon and eBay, and while replacement parts were available, delivery times were at least a week. I didn’t have a week—I rely on my phone for work, and I wasn’t about to struggle through my day with only 12% battery life.

Resigned to buying a new phone, I checked the Verizon store hours and was about to head out when I stumbled upon an interesting discussion on Reddit.

Two users in the UK had experienced the same issue and found an unconventional solution. They didn’t replace the sensor—they recalibrated it.

The Theory: Heat Could Reset the Sensor

Instead of assuming their sensors were broken, they theorized that the readings were simply miscalibrated. Their solution? Heat the phone to 85°C (185°F) to reset the sensor.

One of them used a specialized heating pad—the kind technicians use to soften phone adhesives before repair.

I didn’t have one of those. But I did have an air fryer. So, with nothing to lose, I decided to air-fry my phone.

I placed it inside the fryer, set the temperature to 185°F (85°C), and set the timer for 15 minutes. I left the phone on during the process, thinking it might need to be powered up for the recalibration to work.

Realistically, I was prepared for the worst—there was a good chance I’d return to a fried, useless phone and still have to visit Verizon for a replacement.

The Moment of Truth

To distract myself, I drove into town to grab breakfast for my son and me. Forty-five minutes later, I returned home to find the phone warm, but not dangerously hot.

On the screen, a new message appeared:

“Apps shut down to cool the phone.”

This was a good sign—the phone wasn’t dead!

I plugged in the charger, and within minutes, the battery jumped to 20%. Over the next hour, it climbed to 100%, fully functional again.

Conclusion

I still don’t fully understand why this worked—whether the heat truly reset the sensor or whether something else was at play. But one thing’s for sure:

I air-fried my phone back to life.

Would I recommend this as a go-to fix? Not unless you’re desperate. There’s always a risk of damaging your device further. But in my case, it saved me from buying a new phone, and for that, I’ll take the win.

Organizations today depend on wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular networks to maintain seamless operations. As wireless communication continues to expand, so do the associated security challenges. Many organizations rely on network-based controls, including Network Access Control (NAC), logs, and inventory scans, to protect sensitive data and network integrity. While these solutions are necessary for mitigating particular Wi-Fi threats, they lack the broad coverage and real-time threat mitigation capabilities of Wireless Airspace Defense solutions like Bastille.

The Role of Network-Based Controls in Wi-Fi Security

Organizations have widely deployed network-based security controls to regulate access and manage security risks associated with corporate networks. These solutions provide a fundamental layer of protection in mitigating threats within managed network infrastructure.

Network Access Control (NAC)

NAC systems enforce security policies by controlling which devices can connect to an organization’s network. NAC solutions can:

• Restrict access to unauthorized or non-compliant devices.
• Enforce authentication and endpoint security policies.
• Detect and quarantine suspicious network activity.

While NAC helps prevent unauthorized access, its scope is limited to known devices and trusted networks. It does not address threats from rogue wireless signals outside the managed infrastructure, such as unauthorized Wi-Fi hotspots or Bluetooth attacks.

Logs and Inventory Scans

Logs and inventory scans provide organizations with valuable insights into network activity. They help security teams:

• Track device connections and user behavior.
• Identify anomalies that may indicate a security threat.
• Maintain an inventory of all network-connected devices for compliance purposes.

However, these solutions rely on post-event analysis, making them reactive rather than proactive. Traditional network logs may never detect a breach if an attacker uses a rogue access point or cellular network to infiltrate a network.

The Limitations of Network-Based Controls

While NAC, logs, and inventory scans provide essential security measures, they fail to offer comprehensive protection against modern wireless threats. Traditional network security tools focus on traffic within the managed infrastructure, often ignoring unauthorized devices operating outside but still posing a risk. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular-based attacks can occur outside the monitored network perimeter but target internal systems or devices while avoiding standard network security measures. Attackers frequently bypass NAC and logs by using these wireless technologies.

A recent example of such a threat involved a large financial services company that deployed Bastille’s Wireless Airspace Defense solution at one of its data halls, which processes millions of dollars in daily transactions. After deployment, the Bastille system discovered and addressed several minor security issues and made one significant finding.

Bastille detected a device moving around the facility with a non-corporate Wi-Fi Access Point name on at least four occasions during the month. Each time it appeared, a device in one of the server cabinets immediately connected to it for an average of sixty-two minutes, enabling sustained communication between a data hall server rack and an unauthorized personal device. Bastille also detected cellular activity in the area, creating a data exfiltration path and potentially compromising the sensitive financial data on those servers.

This finding highlights the risks that organizations have regarding wireless communication. The wireless intrusion that occurred four times during the month went unnoticed in a data center fortified against physical breaches with extensive network security. The fact that a device in a server cabinet connected and transmitted data to another device is a security issue in itself. The ability of this Access Point to connect to the outside world via cellular networks for instant data exfiltration is even more alarming. This incident exemplifies how invisible and undetected connections can become unguarded gateways, putting valuable digital assets at risk.

The Need for Wireless Airspace Defense

Organizations must implement wireless airspace defense solutions to address the challenges of modern wireless threats. These solutions provide real-time, full-spectrum monitoring to detect unauthorized or rogue devices operating outside the managed infrastructure. Unlike traditional network-based controls, they cover a wider range of threats across Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, and IoT networks.

Why Wireless Airspace Defense is Essential

• Expanding Attack Surface: As more devices rely on wireless connectivity, organizations face increasing threats, from unauthorized IoT devices to malicious cellular hotspots.
• Protection Beyond Perimeter-Based Security: Wireless threats originate from external actors and internal vulnerabilities, including employees inadvertently connecting to unsafe networks or using personal hotspots.
• Real-Time, Proactive Security: Unlike NAC and logs, which react after an event, wireless airspace defense actively monitors and detects anomalies before they escalate into full-scale breaches.
• Detection of Covert Wireless Channels: Attackers often exploit lesser-known frequencies to bypass security measures. Wireless airspace defense solutions monitor a wide range of the RF spectrum, identifying threats traditional tools overlook.
• Compliance and Risk Mitigation: Industries with strict regulatory requirements (such as finance, healthcare, and government) need enhanced security solutions to maintain compliance and prevent breaches that could lead to severe financial and reputational damage.

Bastille Wireless Airspace Defense

Bastille is the leading provider of wireless airspace defense. Bastille provides a 100% passive monitoring system offering unparalleled visibility into the wireless spectrum and detecting threats beyond the managed network infrastructure.

Key Advantages of Bastille Wireless Airspace Defense

1. Full-Spectrum Wireless Monitoring: Unlike NAC and logs, Bastille detects threats across Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, and IoT networks, covering the entire RF spectrum from 100 MHz to 7.125 GHz.
2. Real-Time Threat Detection: Bastille monitors unauthorized devices and anomalous wireless activity, allowing security teams to respond proactively before an attack escalates.
3. Unauthorized Device Location Tracking: Bastille pinpoints the physical location of rogue wireless devices, enabling organizations to take immediate action against potential threats.
4. Protection Against Insider and External Threats: Whether an employee unknowingly connects to a malicious Bluetooth device or an external attacker sets up a rogue access point, Bastille’s solution ensures these threats are detected and mitigated.
5. Enhanced Security for Air-Gapped Environments: Even in highly secure, air-gapped environments, Bastille detects unauthorized wireless transmissions that adversaries could use for espionage or data exfiltration.

Conclusion

While network-based controls like NAC, logs, and inventory scans remain essential for managing and mitigating specific Wi-Fi threats, they fail to address the full spectrum of modern wireless security risks. Wireless airspace defense solutions like Bastille complement traditional network security by providing real-time, full-spectrum threat detection, ensuring that organizations remain protected against known and unknown wireless threats. By incorporating Bastille Wireless Airspace Defense, organizations can significantly enhance their security posture, safeguarding their infrastructure from evolving threats in today’s wireless-dependent world.

In the modern corporate environment, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is increasingly common in wireless communications for IoT devices, medical equipment, and consumer electronics. People come into the office wearing fitness trackers, wireless headphones, and hearing aids. However, while BLE is convenient for its power savings, ease of use, and efficient data transfer, it introduces vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit to exfiltrate sensitive data from BLE-enabled devices. Bastille Networks provides comprehensive protection against these threats by detecting, identifying, and mitigating BLE-based attacks, including those designed to exfiltrate data.

The BLE Threat Landscape

Attackers and researchers have exploited or demonstrated several notable BLE in real-world scenarios, highlighting their potential for data exfiltration. The following non-exhaustive list enumerates several recent attacks and proof-of-concept demonstrations that show the potential threat of BLE devices to the enterprise network.

BlueBorne Attack (2017)

The BlueBorne attack leverages vulnerabilities that allow attackers to target Bluetooth-enabled devices without pairing or user interaction. It exploited flaws in the Bluetooth protocol stack, specifically in how devices processed incoming Bluetooth connections. Attackers could spread the attack over the air, gaining remote control over devices, including smartphones, laptops, and IoT devices. Attackers could execute arbitrary code, gaining access to sensitive data like emails, files, and communications. The attack affected billions of devices and required no user interaction. In a proof-of-concept demonstration, researchers took control of Android devices and intercepted user communications, displaying BlueBorne’s potential for data exfiltration.

BLEEDINGBIT (2018)

The BLEEDINGBIT vulnerabilities affected Texas Instruments’ BLE chips in enterprise-grade Wi-Fi access points. These vulnerabilities allowed attackers to execute code remotely on the target device, which they could use to compromise the network the device connected to.

By gaining a foothold in the network, an attacker could use compromised access points to exfiltrate sensitive or privileged data. BLEEDINGBIT allowed attackers to implant backdoors or bypass memory protection mechanisms. Researchers showed that attackers could also use compromised access points to infiltrate secure networks, potentially leading to business communications and credentials theft.

SweynTooth (2020)

SweynTooth is a collection of vulnerabilities that impacted BLE systems, including multiple IoT and medical devices. These vulnerabilities allowed attackers to trigger crashes, bypass security features, and sometimes gain unauthorized access to sensitive data. SweynTooth affected devices like pacemakers and smart home products, with attackers able to bypass encryption and access personal or medical information.  Researchers demonstrated how attackers could turn off security in BLE-enabled medical devices, potentially accessing sensitive health records.

BLESA (2020)

BLESA exploits flaws in the BLE reconnection process, allowing attackers to spoof previously trusted devices, bypass authentication, and access sensitive data. The attack allows the impersonation of legitimate devices, such as fitness trackers, enabling unauthorized access to personal data during BLE communication. In a proof-of-concept, researchers spoofed connections to fitness trackers and medical devices, gaining access to personal data without user interaction.

NCC Group’s Bluetooth Attack on Tesla Key Fobs (2022)

Researchers from NCC Group exploited a vulnerability in the BLE protocol to unlock and start Tesla cars by relaying signals between the vehicle and the key fob. This attack bypassed proximity-based security measures, highlighting risks in BLE authentication systems. While focused on vehicle access, similar attacks could lead to data exfiltration in other BLE-enabled systems. Researchers demonstrated the attack successfully on Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, highlighting BLE relay vulnerabilities.

BrakTooth (2021)

BrakTooth affected Bluetooth stacks in millions of consumer devices, allowing remote code execution and denial-of-service attacks. Although primarily designed to disrupt device operations, attackers could use BrakTooth to gain control of devices, potentially leading to data theft. Researchers triggered crashes and remote code execution on Bluetooth-enabled smartphones and laptops, demonstrating how attackers could exploit BrakTooth for data exfiltration.

Bastille Networks Solution

Bastille’s technology uses advanced software-defined radios (SDRs) to continuously monitor the radio spectrum, detecting anomalies and unauthorized BLE activity. By identifying devices attempting unauthorized connections or data transmission, Bastille can stop data exfiltration before it occurs.

Bastille extends visibility beyond BLE, covering Bluetooth classic (BT), Wi-Fi, cellular, and other wireless protocols. This integrated approach ensures the solution can detect sophisticated attacks by combining multiple wireless technologies. Bastille can see advertising BLE devices and an established data connection between paired BLE devices. Bastille can accurately identify devices based on their RF signature, distinguishing between trusted and untrusted devices. This capability is crucial in detecting spoofed BLE devices, such as in BLESA attacks, where attackers impersonate legitimate devices.

When the solution detects suspicious activity, Bastille generates immediate alerts and can automatically trigger defensive actions, such as disconnecting malicious devices or isolating them from sensitive systems. Bastille’s solution integrates seamlessly with existing enterprise security systems, providing detailed insights into wireless threats and ensuring that security teams address BLE vulnerabilities, such as those found in BLEEDINGBIT or BrakTooth, within the broader security architecture.

Conclusion

As BLE becomes increasingly integrated into business operations and the enterprise environment, the potential for data exfiltration via wireless vulnerabilities grows. Bastille Networks offers a comprehensive solution to detect, identify, and neutralize these threats, ensuring that sensitive data remains secure. Whether defending against established vulnerabilities like BlueBorne and BLEEDINGBIT or emerging threats like SweynTooth and BrakTooth, Bastille provides unmatched protection for BLE-enabled environments.

What You Need to Know About Apple’s Latest Security Update

Apple has released crucial security updates to address multiple vulnerabilities in AirPlay, the company’s widely used wireless media-sharing protocol. The Oligo Security research team identified these vulnerabilities, which pose significant risks, including denial-of-service (DoS) attacks and Remote Code Execution (RCE), which could allow attackers to gain unauthorized control over devices.

Understanding the Impact

The discovered vulnerabilities impact a broad range of Apple platforms, including:

• macOS (MacBooks, iMacs, and Mac Mini)
• iOS (iPhones)
• iPadOS (iPads)
• watchOS (Apple Watch)
• tvOS (Apple TV)
• visionOS (Apple Vision Pro)

Severity of the Exploit

Oligo uncovered five critical vulnerabilities, each targeting different aspects of AirPlay’s communication and memory-handling mechanisms. These flaws could allow attackers to:

• Take complete control of affected devices – Attackers could execute arbitrary code remotely, allowing them to manipulate or exfiltrate user data.
• Repeatedly crash the AirPlay service – Disrupting media streaming or device functionality through DoS attacks.
• Execute malicious code remotely – Threat actors could send specially crafted packets over the network to trigger a system compromise.
• Corrupt process memory – Leading to unstable system behavior, potential data leaks, or full system crashes.

Technical Breakdown: The Identified Vulnerabilities

Apple has assigned the following CVE identifiers to the vulnerabilities, highlighting their severity:

• CVE-2025-24126 – Input Validation Flaw: Improper input validation within AirPlay could allow malicious packets to cause system termination or memory corruption.
• CVE-2025-24129 – Type Confusion Vulnerability: Attackers on the same network could exploit this issue to crash applications or execute arbitrary code remotely.
• CVE-2025-24131 – Memory Handling Weakness: A denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability that attackers in privileged network locations could trigger.
• CVE-2025-24177 – Null Pointer Dereference: Sending malformed AirPlay requests could cause devices to crash repeatedly.
• CVE-2025-24137 – Remote Code Execution (RCE) via Type Confusion: This critical flaw could allow attackers to gain persistent remote access to the device.

Mitigation: How to Protect Your Devices

Given the severity of these vulnerabilities, users should take immediate action to secure devices and networks:

• Install Apple’s Latest Security Updates – Ensure all iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple TVs, Watches, and Vision Pro devices are on the latest OS versions.
• Disable AirPlay (if unnecessary) – Users who do not frequently use AirPlay should turn off the AirPlay Receiver function to reduce exposure.
• Restrict Network Access – Configure firewalls to limit AirPlay communication (Port 7000) to trusted devices only.
• Tighten AirPlay Access Controls – Change AirPlay settings to “Current User Only” to prevent unauthorized connections.

Beyond Patching: The Need for Wireless Threat Detection

While Apple’s patches address these vulnerabilities, they highlight a broader issue: wireless attack vectors remain a critical security blind spot. Organizations cannot rely solely on patching because:

• Zero-Day Threats Are Increasing – Attackers exploit unknown weaknesses before patches become available.
• Wireless Attacks Are Hard to Detect – Traditional security tools cannot see RF-based threats in the environment.
• Unpatched & Unpatchable Devices Exist – Some enterprise environments cannot update all devices immediately, leaving security gaps.

How Bastille Helps Organizations Secure Their Wireless Airspace

Bastille’s Wireless Airspace Defense platform provides continuous, real-time RF monitoring to detect and respond to anomalous wireless activity, even when attackers exploit unknown vulnerabilities. By analyzing radio frequency (RF) transmissions across 25 MHz to 7.125 GHz, Bastille can:

• Detect Unauthorized Wireless Signals – Identify rogue devices attempting to exploit AirPlay and other wireless vulnerabilities.
• Monitor for AirPlay Exploits – Alert security teams if suspicious AirPlay transmissions occur in the environment.
• Identify and Track Wireless Threats – Locate and mitigate unauthorized RF-based attacks targeting corporate networks.

Final Thoughts

The newly discovered AirPlay vulnerabilities reinforce the importance of proactive wireless security. Organizations must move beyond traditional network defenses and adopt RF-based threat detection to safeguard against attacks leveraging unpatched wireless vulnerabilities. By integrating Bastille’s Wireless Airspace Defense, enterprises can gain complete visibility into wireless threats in their environment, ensuring their networks remain secure even when vulnerabilities emerge in widely used protocols like AirPlay.

What Happened

On Friday, WhatsApp announced that a sophisticated hacking operation linked to Paragon’s Graphite spyware targeted its users. According to Meta’s security team, the threat actors employed a “zero-click” exploit to compromise user accounts without any interaction. 

“WhatsApp has disrupted a spyware campaign by Paragon that targeted a number of users, including journalists and members of civil society,” a company spokesperson told The Guardian. “We’ve reached out directly to people who we believe were affected. This [incident] is the latest example of why spyware companies must be held accountable for their unlawful actions. WhatsApp will continue to protect people’s ability to communicate privately.”

The Latest Spyware Campaign

AE Industrial Partners recently acquired Paragon, an Israeli surveillance company, for $900 million. Unlike their controversial spyware peers, Paragon positioned itself as the “ethical” alternative to companies like NSO Group and Intellexa. The company is now facing intense scrutiny as a result of this breach. Meta announced Friday it had issued a cease-and-desist letter to Paragon and was considering further legal action against the company. WhatsApp markets itself as a secure end-to-end encrypted communication platform and has sued spyware companies threatening their user’s privacy before. In 2019, Meta sued the spyware company NSO Group after NSO exploited vulnerabilities in WhatsApp to install spyware on the devices of targeted users. 

Despite Meta’s response, John Scott-Railton, Senior Researcher at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, says incentives are aligned for more spyware to proliferate, not decrease: “Mercenary spyware companies will probably keep chasing massive exits. Hoping the music doesn’t stop until a sale goes through… not a lot of incentive to be skeptical of government customers.”

How Attackers Conducted the Attack

Meta announced that attackers compromised the accounts via malicious PDF links sent to WhatsApp group chats. While Meta has not released further technical details on the attack, this is not the first time zero-click smartphone attacks have exploited sending malicious PDF links. The 2023 Operation Triangulation attacks, which targeted the iPhones of Kaspersky researchers, relied on sending malicious PDFs packaged as .watchface files over iMessage to zero-click victims’ phones.

Government’s New Spyware Concerns

While Paragon primarily sold licenses for its software to governments other than the US, the company had early traction with agencies like ICE, who awarded them a $2 million contract. However, privacy experts believe this attack has soured Paragon’s perception of USG. “Their business model is hacking American companies. In the service of foreign governments,” Scott-Railton says, “If I’m in the NSC tonight, I have to be wondering whether Paragon’s #Graphite spyware, like NSO’s #Pegasus before it, is lurking on any US officials’ devices. Or those of US allies. Governments around the world will be asking the same question.”

Smartphone Security Whiplash

Meta claims WhatsApp began investigating these attacks in December 2024. At the same time WhatsApp’s investigations were underway, US intelligence officials were urging Americans to only use encrypted communication channels on their phones like WhatsApp or Signal because the Chinese state-affiliated group Salt Typhoon had infiltrated all major telecommunications carriers in the U.S. 

The False Security Paradigm

Organizations face a fundamental security disconnect:

1. Users trust their smartphones implicitly, believing encryption and security features make them safe
2. The reality is these devices can:
   • Constantly collect data about their environment
   • Maintain persistent wireless connections
   • Communicate over cellular networks outside organizational control
   • Store sensitive data while maintaining multiple potential exfiltration paths

Walking Antennas: Smartphones as Attack Platforms

Modern smartphones have multiple wireless antennas (Cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ultra-wideband, and NFC) that continuously scan their environment and transmit data. Organizations had traditionally ignored the risks posed by wireless devices, assuming they required proximity to a target to exploit. They also allowed wireless devices like personal smartphones and IoT devices to proliferate in their environment. The Nearest Neighbor attack disclosed by Volexity last November has completely changed cybersecurity experts’ perspective on these risks. The attack shows how uncontrolled wireless devices can be used by attackers thousands of miles away to compromise organizational wireless assets and infiltrate networks as easily as Internet-based attacks. Pentesting applications like Kali Nethunter received significant updates in 2024, allowing smartphones to conduct a wide array of malicious Wi-fi and Bluetooth-based attacks using the smartphone’s internal antennas.

Security Implications for Organizations

This new understanding requires a paradigm shift in how organizations approach smartphone security:

1. Zero Trust for Mobile: Treat all smartphones as potential threat vectors, regardless of their security settings or installed apps
2. Location-Based Controls: Implement strict controls on smartphone presence in sensitive areas
3. Continuous Monitoring: Deploy solutions that can detect and track wireless emissions from all smartphone communication channels
4. Policy Updates: Revise security policies to account for smartphones’ multi-faceted threat potential

Looking Ahead

The cybersecurity industry must accept that smartphones represent an inherent security risk that organizations cannot mitigate through traditional means. As these devices become more sophisticated and attacks more creative, it becomes crucial for organizations to adopt comprehensive wireless security strategies that account for all potential attack vectors.

In today’s connected enterprise, a wide range of wireless devices – from authorized network hardware to personal technologies – pose a growing and often invisible security risk. Attackers can exploit these devices to infiltrate networks, making comprehensive wireless security essential for organizations across all sectors. From corporate data centers and cloud infrastructure to classified environments, unmonitored wireless devices can be gateways for data breaches, eavesdropping, and unauthorized access.

Bastille Networks offers a cutting-edge solution designed to secure the entire wireless spectrum. The Wireless Airspace Defense Solution provides real-time detection, location tracking, and mitigation of wireless threats, ensuring a robust security posture in an increasingly vulnerable landscape.

Wireless Airspace Challenges

Securing wireless airspace presents unique challenges that differ significantly from traditional wired networks. These challenges arise because wireless communications are dynamic and invisible, making them harder to monitor and control. As organizations increasingly adopt wireless technologies like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular devices, they become exposed to a broader array of threats that conventional security tools often overlook. The following are some key challenges in wireless security:

1. The proliferation of IoT Devices and Wearables: The rapid growth of IoT devices and wearables increases the number of wireless attack surfaces, many of which lack strong security measures. Attackers can easily exploit these devices, introducing vulnerabilities into corporate networks.
2. Unauthorized and Rogue Devices: Rogue devices, such as unauthorized Wi-Fi access points or personal gadgets, can bypass security policies and be exploited by attackers to infiltrate networks or exfiltrate data, often without detection.
3. Invisibility of Wireless Threats: Wireless signals extend beyond physical boundaries and are invisible to the naked eye, making intrusions difficult to detect. Traditional monitoring tools are often inadequate for identifying these types of wireless threats.
4. Complexity of Multi-Protocol Environments: Organizations use multiple wireless protocols, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee, each with distinct vulnerabilities. Securing these diverse protocols is challenging, as traditional tools often miss lesser-known channels.
5. Out-of-Band Attacks and Side-Channel Exploits: Out-of-band attacks exploit non-traditional communication methods (e.g., Bluetooth or RF signals) to steal data or disrupt networks. They bypass conventional security defenses, making them hard to detect.
6. Increasing Use of Personal Devices (BYOD): BYOD policies allow personal devices to connect to corporate networks, which are often less secure than corporate devices. After connecting to untrusted networks, these devices can introduce malware or vulnerabilities.
7. Legal and Compliance Risks: Failure to secure wireless communications can violate regulations, such as HIPAA, PCI DSS, or GDPR, resulting in fines, reputational damage, and loss of customer trust.

Organizations should adopt a comprehensive and proactive wireless security strategy to mitigate these challenges beyond traditional solutions. The Bastille Networks Wireless Airspace Defense Solution stands out. Bastille’s technology provides full-spectrum monitoring that covers all wireless protocols, from Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to cellular, Zigbee, and others. Its advanced capabilities, such as real-time threat detection, location tracking, and seamless integration with existing security systems, enable organizations to safeguard their wireless airspace effectively against the increasingly complex landscape of threats.

Bastille Networks Solution Overview

The Bastille Wireless Airspace Defense Solution provides comprehensive protection against wireless threats through continuous, real-time monitoring of the wireless spectrum, covering frequencies from 25 MHz to 6 GHz. This full-spectrum visibility enables organizations to detect and neutralize threats using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, and other wireless protocols. By integrating advanced location-tracking capabilities, Bastille pinpoints the physical location of unauthorized wireless devices, allowing for swift, targeted responses – critical in environments where rapid action is essential.

The Fusion Center, which analyzes data collected by Bastille’s sensor arrays, is at the heart of Bastille’s solution. It offers detailed threat insights, including historical data analysis, known threat signatures, and integration with existing security systems. This approach enhances incident response, supports compliance audits, and enables a more proactive approach to wireless security management.

Bastille Networks Differentiators

Bastille Networks differentiates itself from other wireless security solutions by offering complete spectrum coverage from 25 MHz to 6 GHz. Many competing solutions focus solely on specific wireless protocols, such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, leaving gaps in protection. In contrast, Bastille’s full-spectrum monitoring detects threats across all wireless protocols, including lesser-known ones like Zigbee, BLE, and cellular.

Furthermore, unlike solutions that rely solely on software-based detection, Bastille’s hardware-embedded sensor arrays allow for precise location tracking of rogue or unauthorized devices, a capability many competitors lack. This physical detection and location identification significantly enhances the speed and accuracy of threat mitigation.

Additionally, Bastille integrates seamlessly with existing security systems, distinguishing itself from competitors that often require standalone infrastructures or proprietary solutions that don’t scale well or integrate easily. The Bastille Networks Wireless Airspace Defense solution delivers unparalleled visibility into the wireless spectrum, offering several key features:

• Full-spectrum monitoring: Bastille covers all wireless protocols, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, Zigbee, and BLE using its patented Software-Defined Radio (SDR) Technology
• Advanced Bluetooth detection: The solution monitors Bluetooth and BLE channels, identifying devices and network activity to prevent data exfiltration.
• Real-time alerts with location information: The solution notifies security teams immediately when it detects unauthorized devices, allowing for swift threat mitigation.
• Scalability: Bastille’s solution adapts to organizations of any size, from small offices to large campuses.

The Fusion Center

The Fusion Center supports organizations in meeting various regulatory compliance standards. It provides detailed threat analysis and historical data tracking for audit purposes. Specifically, the Fusion Center meets NIAP (National Information Assurance Partnership) certification standards, ensuring it complies with stringent security protocols recognized by government agencies and other highly regulated industries. In addition to NIAP, the Bastille solution helps organizations align with industry-specific regulations such as:

• HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) for healthcare environments,
• PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) for payment card transactions,
• NERC CIP (North American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure Protection) for utilities and critical infrastructure,
• FISMA (Federal Information Security Management Act) for federal agencies, and
• GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) for organizations handling personal data in the EU.

The Fusion Center simplifies the audit process by maintaining real-time data logs, identifying threat patterns, and offering integration with security information and event management (SIEM) systems. It also supports an organization’s regulatory compliance efforts, allowing security teams to quickly demonstrate adherence to industry standards during audits and maintain an ongoing proactive stance on data protection.

Seamless Integration with Existing Security Systems

The Bastille Wireless Airspace Defense Solution offers easy integration. Through standardized APIs and connectors, it can seamlessly integrate with existing SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) platforms, network monitoring tools, and other security systems.

Bastille’s API-first architecture ensures compatibility with popular security solutions such as Splunk, ArcSight, and QRadar. This seamless integration allows security teams to correlate wireless threat data with existing security incidents, giving them a unified view of the threat landscape. The integration process is straightforward and minimally disruptive to current operations, allowing organizations to enhance their wireless security posture without overhauling their entire security infrastructure. By leveraging its modular design, Bastille enables organizations to scale their deployments as needed, from small offices to large, multi-site enterprises, ensuring that integration is both scalable and cost-effective.

Use Cases

The Bastille Wireless Airspace Defense Solution is vital for organizations with diverse security needs. Below are sample use cases for the solution:

• AI/Cloud infrastructure: Wireless threats can bypass defenses and compromise sensitive systems, even in physically secure environments. Bastille’s solution provides the necessary visibility to detect and neutralize these threats.
• Classified areas and SCIFs: A single compromised device can lead to significant data breaches in highly sensitive environments. Bastille offers continuous monitoring to neutralize wireless threats before they cause harm.
• Correctional facilities: Contraband cell phones present serious security risks. Bastille’s precise location tracking helps authorities locate and neutralize unauthorized devices, preventing illicit communication or data breaches.
• Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM): For organizations focused on preventing espionage, Bastille’s continuous RF monitoring detects unauthorized listening devices and surveillance tools, providing actionable intelligence to safeguard against spying.

Conclusion

Organizations should consider a proactive approach to protecting their wireless airspace as these threats evolve. Bastille Networks delivers a Wireless Airspace Defense Solution that provides comprehensive visibility and real-time threat detection across the entire wireless spectrum. By integrating seamlessly with existing security systems and offering unmatched insights into wireless activity, Bastille empowers organizations to stay ahead of emerging threats, support regulatory compliance, and protect their most critical assets.

As the threat landscape evolves, insider threats remain a significant challenge for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and cybersecurity teams. Insiders, including employees, contractors, or trusted partners, can misuse privileged access to harm organizations, and the growing use of wireless devices, such as smartphones, laptops, and IoT gadgets, adds a layer of complexity to this challenge. “Insider Threats” today include compromised systems and user devices with RF interfaces.

Wireless technologies have expanded the attack surface, creating opportunities for insider threats to exploit vulnerabilities within an organization’s wireless airspace. Traditional security solutions, such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS), and endpoint protection, are typically designed for wired networks and digital traffic, leaving coverage gaps for wireless devices. Gartner has identified Wireless Airspace Defense as an essential component of modern security strategies, emphasizing that the invisible layer of wireless communications often goes unmonitored and is susceptible to being leveraged by insider threats.

This blog explores the role wireless devices play in insider attacks and how solutions like Bastille, a leader in Wireless Airspace Defense, can help CISOs and cybersecurity personnel defend against such emerging risks. 

Wireless Devices and Insider Threats

Insider threats are categorized broadly into two types: malicious insiders, who intentionally misuse access for financial gain, espionage, or personal reasons, and negligent insiders, who unintentionally compromise security by mishandling data or connecting unauthorized devices.

While essential for productivity, wireless devices introduce new vulnerabilities that insiders can exploit. Insiders can weaponize the Wireless Airspace – the invisible network of radio frequency (RF) signals generated by Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, IoT, and other wireless technologies – allowing them to operate covertly and undetected by conventional security tools. Below are examples of how insider threats can exploit wireless technologies:

1. Data Exfiltration via Wireless Devices: Insiders can transfer confidential data using personal or unauthorized wireless devices, such as smartphones or laptops. Rogue access points or encrypted connections provide pathways for data exfiltration without raising alarms in traditional network monitoring systems.
2. Intercepting Wireless Communications: An insider may introduce a rogue device capable of intercepting wireless communications, such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth signals. Such rogue devices allow them to steal sensitive information or inject malicious traffic into the network.
3. Compromising IoT Devices: Insiders can target IoT devices, which often lack robust security. Smart cameras, printers, or environmental sensors can contain vulnerabilities that insiders may exploit to gain unauthorized access or move laterally within the network.
4. Wireless Malware Deployment: Wireless-enabled devices, such as infected smartphones or compromised USB drives, can serve as entry points for malware. These devices bypass physical security barriers, allowing insiders to introduce malicious software into the network covertly.
5. Bypassing Physical Security: Insiders can manipulate wireless access controls, such as RFID badges or Bluetooth-enabled locks, to bypass physical security and gain access to restricted areas, facilitating further malicious activities.

The Wireless Airspace Visibility Gap

Traditional security measures offer limited visibility into wireless activity. Firewalls, IDS/IPS, and endpoint security solutions focus primarily on wired networks and digital traffic, leaving the wireless airspace under-monitored and creating blind spots that insiders can exploit.

Gartner’s research highlights Wireless Airspace Defense as a critical need for organizations that depend on wireless devices. The inability to monitor RF signals allows malicious insiders to operate undetected, potentially leading to data breaches, intellectual property theft, and physical security violations.

Gartner recommends that organizations implement tools to continuously monitor and analyze the wireless airspace for unauthorized devices, anomalous RF signals, and suspicious insider behavior.

Bastille: A Leading Wireless Airspace Defense Solution

To address the challenges posed by insider threats exploiting wireless devices, Bastille offers a comprehensive solution for monitoring and securing the wireless airspace. Bastille provides the visibility and control CISOs and cybersecurity teams need to detect and mitigate insider threats leveraging the RF spectrum.

How Bastille enhances wireless airspace defense

1. Complete RF Spectrum Monitoring: Bastille continuously monitors the entire RF spectrum, detecting all wireless devices in an organization’s environment, including ordinary devices such as smartphones, laptops, and Bluetooth peripherals. Coverage extends to unauthorized or rogue RF-emitting devices like covert access points or wireless transmitters.
2. Real-Time Alerts on Anomalous Wireless Activity: Bastille distinguishes between authorized and unauthorized devices based on RF signatures, providing real-time alerts when suspicious or unauthorized devices are detected. This clarity allows security teams to identify and respond to potential insider threats before significant harm occurs.
3. Precise Device Location Tracking: Bastille’s platform can pinpoint the exact location of wireless devices, helping security teams trace the origin of suspicious activities and identify the insider responsible. This level of precision is crucial for mitigating risks associated with rogue devices or compromised IoT systems.
4. Preventing Data Exfiltration: Bastille monitors for unauthorized data transfers over wireless channels. Detecting rogue devices or suspicious wireless activity allows organizations to block data exfiltration attempts, ensuring sensitive information remains secure.
5. Monitoring IoT Devices: Bastille’s RF monitoring extends to IoT devices, providing visibility into wireless signals emitted by IoT sensors, cameras, and industrial systems. This capability helps security teams identify potential vulnerabilities and prevent insiders from exploiting them as entry points.
6. Securing Physical Access: In addition to tracking digital wireless devices, Bastille integrates with physical security systems by monitoring wireless-enabled access points, RFID badges, and Bluetooth locks. This capability enhances physical security by ensuring that insiders cannot use wireless devices to bypass security protocols or gain unauthorized access to sensitive areas.
7. Forensic Analysis and Incident Response: In the event of a breach, Bastille’s system provides detailed logs of wireless activity, enabling security teams to conduct forensic investigations and determine whether an incident involved insider threats. These insights are valuable for incident response and future risk mitigation.

Wireless Airspace Defense Is Essential for CISOs

Gartner emphasizes that Wireless Airspace Defense is critical to modern cybersecurity strategies. As insider threats increasingly leverage wireless airspace, organizations that fail to adopt airspace defense solutions leave themselves vulnerable to significant risks.

CISOs and cybersecurity teams must manage complex attack surfaces, and the invisible nature of wireless devices adds a layer of difficulty. Gartner’s recommendation is clear: adopting advanced solutions that can continuously monitor an enterprise’s wireless airspace is essential for protecting an organization’s critical assets from insider threats.

Bastille’s RF monitoring platform aligns with this recommendation, delivering the real-time visibility and actionable intelligence required to detect and neutralize insider threats. By implementing Bastille, organizations can close the visibility gap in their wireless environments and strengthen defenses against the increasingly sophisticated tactics used by malicious insiders.

Conclusion

Insider threats, particularly those exploiting wireless devices, present a growing challenge for CISOs and cybersecurity teams. The proliferation of wireless devices within corporate environments has expanded the attack surface, making it easier for insiders to engage in malicious activities undetected.

Bastille offers a robust solution for securing the enterprise wireless airspace. It provides continuous RF spectrum monitoring and real-time alerts that allow security teams to detect insider threats before they cause significant damage. By adopting a Wireless Airspace Defense strategy, as recommended by Gartner, organizations can eliminate the blind spots created by wireless devices and ensure their environments are secure from insider threats.

With Bastille’s advanced RF detection capabilities, organizations can gain the visibility and control needed to protect their assets, maintain regulatory compliance, and defend against the growing threat of wireless-enabled insider attacks.

On December 17, 2024, Brian Contos spoke with Brett Walkenhorst, Bastille Networks’s Chief Technology Officer, recording a quick Ask Me Anything video about the recent wireless attack that Veloxity disclosed.

The conversation explores the “Nearest Neighbor Attack,” an innovative wireless attack strategy highlighting how attackers bypass traditional proximity-based security assumptions. It delves into the attack’s mechanics and implications and discusses how Bastille Networks’ solutions address these challenges.

Volexity states, “The Nearest Neighbor Attack effectively amounts to a close access operation, but the risk of being physically identified or detained has been removed. This attack has all the benefits of being in close physical proximity to the target while allowing the operator to be thousands of miles away.”

The Nearest Neighbor Attack exemplifies the ingenuity and persistence of modern cyber adversaries. It underscores the need for comprehensive wireless security solutions like Bastille Networks, which provide visibility, detection, and actionable responses to mitigate these evolving threats. By integrating seamlessly with existing systems, Bastille addresses critical gaps in wireless security and helps organizations stay ahead of attackers.

Watch the video to hear the full discussion.

A recent industrial espionage case in South Korea highlights how insider threats can leverage physical and wireless vulnerabilities to exfiltrate highly sensitive intellectual property. The incident, which South Korean prosecutors value at over $180 million in damages, demonstrates why organizations need comprehensive visibility into all potential data exfiltration channels, including personal cell phones.

The Incident

The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office indicted a former Samsung Display researcher for allegedly stealing trade secrets related to automated factory operations and leaking them to a Chinese competitor. The researcher, who lived in China for Samsung Display, is accused of photographing at least 17 key documents for Samsung’s Digital Display IP and transmitting them directly to Chinese firm employees between November 2021 and May 2022.

The Security Gaps

This case exposes several critical vulnerabilities that many organizations still struggle to address:

1. Unauthorized Data Transmission: The suspect photographed and transmitted sensitive data directly to external parties without detection, using their mobile device, thus bypassing traditional network monitoring.
2. Physical-Digital Convergence: The attacker exploited the gap between physical security controls and digital security monitoring by photographing confidential information and wirelessly transmitting it.
3. Prolonged Exfiltration: The continuous data transmission over several months suggests a capability gap to detect anomalous wireless activity within secure areas.

The Impact

Prosecutors estimate the economic damage at 241.2 billion won (approximately $180 million), and experts suggest the technological gap created by this leak represents about ten years of R&D advantage. More concerning, during a May 2024 search of the employee’s residence, investigators discovered additional trade secrets beyond the 17 photographs that earlier investigations had missed.

Key Lessons for CISOs

This incident underscores why modern security programs must:

• Monitor all potential data exfiltration vulnerabilities, including the proximity of personal phones to restricted areas with sensitive information. 
• Maintain continuous visibility into wireless device activity within sensitive areas.
• Deploy solutions that can detect anomalous wireless transmissions in real-time.
• Correlate physical and digital security data for more effective threat detection.

The ability to detect and prevent wireless data exfiltration is no longer optional – it’s a critical requirement for protecting intellectual property in today’s threat landscape. Organizations must ensure complete visibility into their wireless airspace to identify potential insider threats before critical data leaves the building.