Bluetooth: With Low Energy Comes Low Security

Mike Ryan

Website Maintenance Alert

Due to scheduled maintenance, the USENIX website may not be available on Monday, March 17, from 10:00 am–6:00 pm Pacific Daylight Time (UTC -7). We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

If you would like to register for NSDI '25, SREcon25 Americas, or PEPR '25, please complete your registration before or after this time period.

Authors:

Mike Ryan, iSEC Partners

Abstract:

We discuss our tools and techniques to monitor and inject packets in Bluetooth Low Energy. Also known as BTLE or Bluetooth Smart, it is found in recent high-end smartphones, sports devices, sensors, and will soon appear in many medical devices. We show that we can effectively render useless the encryption of any Bluetooth Low Energy link.

Mike Ryan, iSEC Partners

Open Access Media

USENIX is committed to Open Access to the research presented at our events. Papers and proceedings are freely available to everyone once the event begins. Any video, audio, and/or slides that are posted after the event are also free and open to everyone. Support USENIX and our commitment to Open Access.

BibTeX

@inproceedings {179196,
author = {Mike Ryan},
title = {Bluetooth: With Low Energy Comes Low Security},
booktitle = {7th USENIX Workshop on Offensive Technologies (WOOT 13)},
year = {2013},
address = {Washington, D.C.},
url = {https://www.usenix.org/conference/woot13/workshop-program/presentation/ryan},
publisher = {USENIX Association},
month = aug
}

Download

Ryan PDF

View the slides