Researchers at the University of the Negev, Israel, have published a paper that demonstrates how a hacker could extract data from an otherwise secure system via its SATA cable. The attack uses the SATA cable itself as a form of wireless transmitter, and the data it carries can be intercepted as a form of radio signal in the 6GHz band. The attack is appropriately referred to as SATAn.

The researchers published a paper here (opens in new tab) (via Tom’s Hardware (opens in new tab)). They successfully demonstrated the technique and showed it in a video that’s included above. It has to be said that this kind of attack is complicated and requires specific malware to be installed on the target machine. It requires specialized shellcode to modify file system activity that generates identifiable radio signals from SATA cables.The electromagnetic leakage of the cables can be intercepted by a wireless receiver and replicated on a second device. The researchers entered the word ‘secret’ on the target machine, which was picked up by a second machine. It’s just a simple demo but there’s no reason that targeted malware couldn’t be used to extract passwords or other sensitive text information.

It’s a complicated method as it would require access to the target computer. An air gapped system without any network access would require malware to be directly installed. There’s also the problem that the SATA signal emission is weak and requires the receiving antenna to be around 1 meter away. It’s not easy to just walk up to a secure system and say hi.