Quote:
Originally Posted by Quoth
BT range can be extended to 100 meters easily. No physical access is needed. An extension of ransomware..
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Not with only half of the equation (transmitter/reciever). That embedded chip has to be written to by equipment at checkout for a reason other than logistics. And it's likely that reason is a tiny antenna on that chip. Most IoT chips with bluetooth/WiFi (ESP8266/ESP32) have horrible range without an external antenna. A one-time throwaway chip like they would be using in their powertools in this application would likely have even less capabilities. Precisely
because they would have no reason to undo the activation. I would be surprised if the bluetooth is even left enabled once the chip is authorized at checkout. There'd certainly be no reason to leave it on after that. Not a reason that doesn't require tinfoil hats anyway.
Not that I'm generally in support of technology being used in this manner, mind you. I just don't see consumers being realistically put out, or affected at all really, by bad actors in this particular application.