Might Be A Spy -Project Details-

Might Be A Spy

                                      by  Yoki Lee Yung Ki

Might Be a Spy is an art project which aims to address the vulnerability of smart-devices charging through USB connections. It presents an earthy, yet conceptually distant and unenlightened technological threat as an actual experience to users. Thus, by giving an example of low-tech, analog solutions to tackle digital pitfalls, it explores the inherent tension between physicality and conceptuality of computer technologies.




The project make use of Processing as the interface output, and USBDeview as the source of USB connection status. A .txt file containing information of only connected devices with serial numbers are generated from USBDeview.exe. Hence, a Processing sketch takes the file as an input and executes conditional commands. When there are no smart-devices connected or connections are made through a USB condom, the screen shows an image with a "Charge Me" message;  while when a smart-device is connected directly (without the USB condom), the screen shows a set of playful images to indicate the possibility of non-consent data-transfer. For the physical part, a USB condom is made by simply connecting the corresponding power lines of the male and female USB drive together. The two pins in between are soldered together respectively on both drives. 

It is presented in a fun, humorous way that it relates literally to the function of condoms. The sexual appeal is implied as a resemblance of spying practice: sex as the mean of accessing private information (as in Hollywood films). An image of a male character in costume is used not only to enhance the playfulness, but it also contributes to the gender balance of the project.

The project is inspired by a similar project done by Wall of Sheep and posts on Instructables.

Disclaimer: all images used in this project are either original or free of copy rights.

Download the source codes here.

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Yoki is a Taiwanese-Japanese artist interested in interactions and relationships. Her art form diverges from photography, objects, sculptures, installations and writings. She is currently a BAS final-year student at School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong.

Final Project Progress Update

The USB Condom

Tested. Working fine.

The apk file

An apk file is created with GREAT help from http://www.appsgeyser.com/.

You can download the blueprint from here.
This apk file contains 3 images which comes together as a live wallpaper. Yet, it is not shown until the user press the "set as wallpaper " button.

However, adjustments should be made to better match the project design. For instance, show the contained images directly once the apk file is installed.

Project Description briefly updated

Might Be a Spy is a project launched to address the vulnerability of smartphone charging through USB connections. As part of the project, a charging booth equipped with a pre-programmed ic is placed in public. While the charger is connected to a supporting device directly, this apk file would be automatically installed on the connected device. 

A set of warning images would pop up on the screen; however whilst the connection is made through a provided USB condom, the project setup would function as a normal(safe) charging spot.

Might Be a Spy presents an earthy, yet conceptually distant and unenlightened technological threat as an actual experience to users. Thus, it gives an example of low-tech, analog solutions to tackle digital pitfalls.

Risky Items

1) How to program the push-download & installation of the apk file??
               Arduino command line build not yet tested
               Seems to be complicated with reference to the Arduino Playground...
2) How to modify the apk file?
              Which part should I modify so I can skip the need to manually setting the images as the wallpaper?

Final project

Might Be a Spy.

                                          -project by Lee Yung Ki, Yoki

Might Be a Spy is a project launched to address the vulnerability of smartphone charging through USB connections. As part of the project, a charging booth equipped with a pre-programmed ic is placed in public. When the charging port is idle, a screen would show images advertising the free charging function of the booth. Hence, while the charger is connected to a supporting device directly, a warning poster would pop up on the screen with 5-seconds countdown, followed by disclosure of data extracted from the connected device; whilst if the connection is made through a provided USB condom, the device would function as a normal(safe) charging booth.  

The prototype of the charging booth only supports Android devices. The hacking of data from devices would either based on SDK/ADB commands directly, or by automatic download of APK files to the connected device.

Might Be a Spy presents an earthy, yet conceptually distant, unenlightened technological threat as an actual experience to users. Thus, it gives an example of low-tech, analog solutions to tackle digital pitfalls.

Yoki is an artist whose work diverges from writing, objects, installations, photography and animation.

a glimpse on final project

final project references

MACTANS: INJECTING MALWARE INTO IOS DEVICES VIA MALICIOUS CHARGERS

https://media.blackhat.com/us-13/US-13-Lau-Mactans-Injecting-Malware-into-iOS-Devices-via-Malicious-Chargers-WP.pdf


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http://www.extremetech.com/computing/187279-undetectable-indefensible-security-flaw-found-in-usb-its-time-to-get-your-ps2-keyboard-out-of-the-cupboard

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https://github.com/Galvant/usb_wrapper-pcb

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A cross-platform software protocol library and tools to communicate with iOS® devices natively.

http://www.libimobiledevice.org/

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HOW TO PUT A TROJAN ON IOS AND SPY AN IPHONE OR IPAD
https://locurayarte.wordpress.com/2014/01/14/2298/

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http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5307406/ddms-source-extending-ddms

notes on Final Project Ideas

http://www.cracked.com/article_20345_5-terrifying-smartphone-hacks-you-wont-believe-are-possible.html

http://www.wallofsheep.com/pages/tools-training

1) usb condoms


img src: http://www.instructables.com/id/Making-a-USB-Condom/

2) Spoofing sensor ID on smartphones

ref: https://crypto.stanford.edu/gyrophone/sensor_id.pdf

ref:  http://blog.sfgate.com/techchron/2013/10/10/stanford-researchers-discover-alarming-method-for-phone-tracking-fingerprinting-through-sensor-flaws/

ref: http://news.discovery.com/tech/gear-and-gadgets/smartphones-motion-sensor-is-unique-can-id-you-131014.htm

List of Control

1) Google map tracked my location even when the GPS+wi-fi is turned off. Thus, it combined my search history on Google search engine and made assumption/adjustment of where I've stayed for some while. (In the 2nd image, it was right that I've been to soho/lkf, however the exact locations of where I spent my time was not true. It indicates spots of which I googled, but not where I actually went to.)

2)  Reaction to ad-blocker on the guardians website.

3) Designed/determined flow of people in shopping mall

Assignment 7a: Reading "What the Body Told" by Rafael Campo@Connecting Space HK

I went to Connecting Space HK, setup the camera and read a poem in front of one of the installation piece. I wanted to break two typical/consensual rules of exhibition space: 1)no video recordings, 2) not to talk loudly. 

The gallery lady was quite nice and she didn't interrupt me until I finish reading. However I forgot to set a camera to capture her reactions, so I only have her voice as reference. Also, during the documentation, I stopped the recording once without true intention. Thus so the documentation are spread into two. Part of the conversation is missed out, but it does not really affect the presentation of the action.

https://youtu.be/0SBsHseJDMY

What the Body ToldBY RAFAEL CAMPO

Not long ago, I studied medicine.
It was terrible, what the body told.
I’d look inside another person’s mouth,
And see the desolation of the world.
I’d see his genitals and think of sin.

Because my body speaks the stranger’s language,
I’ve never understood those nods and stares.
My parents held me in their arms, and still
I think I’ve disappointed them; they care
And stare, they nod, they make their pilgrimage

To somewhere distant in my heart, they cry.
I look inside their other-person’s mouths
And see the wet interior of souls.
It’s warm and red in there—like love, with teeth.
I’ve studied medicine until I cried

All night. Through certain books, a truth unfolds.
Anatomy and physiology,
The tiny sensing organs of the tongue—
Each nameless cell contributing its needs.
It was fabulous, what the body told.

ideas for final project

1.  Before it Happn

Happn is a new dating app with make matches of users based on their GPS location in 250m radius. (for which registration for app and future login is bound to Facebook account)

The info they request from Facebook includes: public profile, friend list, email address, birthday, work history, photos(uploaded by user/tagged in), personal descriptions and Likes. Among the list, only public profile is mandatory requirement, while the other could be denied by user.

The project is to raise awareness towards the recent trend incident of student's suicide in HK. It will create a set of pseudo profiles of teenagers & young-adults who are suffering depression/with suicidal tendencies on the new dating app Happn.

Source of inspiration:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dating-app-exposes-hidden-violence-on-international-womens-day_us_56ded91fe4b0000de405bc2e

link to learn more about Happn:
http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-happn-dating-app-2015-5
http://clintonpower.com.au/2014/08/new-dating-app-happn/

2.  CCTV Bogy

"I'm sorry security people, I put up some bogey just to annoy and entertain you❤"

Review on exhibition"Surviving The Glass System"

Surveillance only borders people who had experienced it.

I work there as a gallery assistant, and it allowed me to have abundant time to understand what the exhibition is about.

I once connected to the “public wireless” at the briefing section for us assistants, and afterwards I simply turned off the wifi on my phone. I wasn’t aware of the option to forget the network. A few days later, on duty, I was sitting near the stairs, a few meters away from the Transparency Grenade by Julian Oliver, which was placed right next to the entrance. There were no visitors around and so I got on my phone and start Telegram-ing my close friend. I received a notification of an Instagram-like yet I ignored it as I was in private talks, then I heard footsteps echoed from the entering point. I looked up, put my phone behind me and said hi to the guest. Thereupon I realized a slight change on the monitor of the Transparency Grenade. There was a new image shown on the screen (which before was only texts). It was a fairly familiar image to me. I gazed on that for a while and as I finally figured out what it was, it was a serious wtf-moment. I checked my phone immediately. The wifi was left on since I leave home, and it had automatically connected to the “public wireless”. The image that popped up is the profile picture of whom liked my Instagram photo earlier.

        But I haven’t run the Instagram app on my phone…

                But I haven’t run the Instagram app on my phone…

                        But I haven’t run the Instagram app on my phone...

It was mind-blowing and all of a sudden I truly appreciate Telegram sends messages encrypted.

Although I knew already by then how the piece works, it was desperately shocking and spooky when it hits me beyond my expectation. Terrible thing.

Yesterday I toured a group of S5 students, and turned out that they liked a lot the grenade piece. They connect to the corresponding wifi actively and crowed around the set up for more than twenty minutes. At the beginning it was fun enough to browse Instagram photo on such a big monitor. Soon some boys pushed the boundary by going on to a porn site, most of them in the group laughed. Later on some class photos of their form appeared and eventually wiped out the sexy images on the screen, followed by a bunch of selfies. Those were supposed to be the photos lying quietly in their own phone album, according to their surprised little shouts. They were having great fun there, which seemed ridiculous to me.

I remembered the say in George Orwell’s 1984, “ignorance is strength”. The line was a political slogan after all, it makes its point clean and concisely, just like the well-polished artwork at the showcase. We all see the stuffs, and likely read the words too, but rarely do we extend our minds to think about the people behind, about those who made the system and those who monitor. 

Of course ignorance is strength, a strength for them who are already in power.

As a matter of fact, surveillance could only be a concern to people who had actual experience on it. Perhaps there aren't much people could do to help the less-conscious ones, before another rousing, obvious and impactful "civil crisis" strikes.

P.s. when even the pictogram of the don't touch sign doesn't ring a bell on people (most of the visitors in general), how could a complex idea like surveillance become a matter of concern ?

Assignment 4: Website Spoofing

http://lab-lamp.scm.cityu.edu.hk/~ykylee3/www.timeout.com.hk/restaurants-bars/

Assignment 3- Every day the same dream

I want to fill up the 'missing'/ 'hidden' elements of the game, which is (for me) the things going-on in the character's mind. So I wrote a short story from the perspective of the character as an attempt to return him a little bit of power (by addressing the limited freedom of his mind). However I didn't helped him escape from the negative tone of the game setting.

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7:47. The little red light on the alarm clock started to blink. Fierce and fleckless; two glazes a second. I can't take any more snoozes; I am going to be late for work anyway; but I shall go there anyhow. So I dressed up, and stepped out the lonesome room.

At the living room, I saw my wife behind the stove of the open kitchen. I imagined her greeting me before I turned off the blares and buzzes from the old box television. "Morning dear," she said, in my mind. I walked up towards her, curious of what she was making. It would be a good start of the day if she would turn around and give me a hug and kiss-goodbye. I saw the quivering scrambled egg in the pan. Portion for one, sadly. "C'mon honey you're late," said my wife, without sparing a glance on me. Not even on my toes.

There was an old lady in the elevator whom I could talk to. As the door closed, I invited, "How do you think an elevator works? What if it's actually the settings, the things outside this cabin are changing, but never us here. Like if we're in a theater, we never move ourselves. We are nailed and passive. The only act we take is to wait for things to happen, to happen for us. Things shift, and the world changes right in front, but we don't see how it happens, and so we don't really care about it." Then the old lady snorted, screwed her eyes, "nonsense." I didn't like the crumples on her face, especially the wrinkles around her dark brown eyes. She continued her despise on my thoughts, "three more steps and you will be a new person." She must have considered me to be mentally sick, hence I replied, assertively with a confident and generous smile, "nonsense."

The traffic stuck on the way to work. I felt like a grain of sand trapped in an hourglass, rolling slowly and steadily approaching the narrow neck to leave the emptiness behind. I didn't really mind the sluggishness happening here, I am already late for work no matter how. There were cows on the field near the road. To kill the boredness I imagined myself to be a rearer spending most time petting the cows while they graze. I would pet them out of sympathy, and out of crave for cash in return; would they ever feel the lack of passion from soothe touch of our skins.

The tree in front of the office building became naked again. I caught the last yellowed leaf shed off from the branch.

My boss seemed to be waiting for me at the office entrance. "You're late," he grunted. Such a caring man, I thought. I took that as a 'hello', and I gently nod at him. I enjoyed walking pass him, as I could clearly see the reflection of light on the top of his bald head. I liked the fact that I'm taller, and younger than him. I often count the number of cubicles I go through to locate my seat. The boss didn't let us personalize our seats with stuffs like photographs, nor to bring our favorite mug; the company provides plenty of that for our use. To reach my cubicle, I have to count down from sixteen, and I shrink myself in the chair when I have the countdown on zero. I worked, almost automatically out of muscle memories. I spared myself by thinking about the dream I had last night. The one which I met a homeless dude at a crossroad. He was in a black cloak with a big hood pulled up over his head. I didn't see all his face but the tall nose and big beard in grey.

In the dream I followed him to a graveyard, and we just stood there facing the headstones in the wind. There wasn't much happening in that dream, and there's not much details that I would like to drill on. I checked the time and there were still five more hours to go for the shift. I have to think of something else.

I think I should at some point admit that I hate this banality, but I couldn't deny that routine makes me feel safe. Safe, even when my boss scolds at me for my late-coming, I don't worry about loosing the job. I know I could always work at a different company. For that the act of firing and hiring employees are also, a routine.

The only fear I have is to jump off from the roof top of a commercial high-rise. I once went up there. It was about six years ago; two and a half year since I graduated with a BBA degree, honored. Dreadfulness of being unremarkable pushed me up there. I remember watching the tiny vehicles crawling across under me feet, and the pixelated people without names rustling in all directions, just like the dust particles drifting in the air. It appeared to be interesting to look at, although only it was when I was standing on the edge. After a while of observation I carefully stepped back and I resumed working. I didn't recall the experience for a long long time, until now. Perhaps that would be the bravest, coolest thing I would ever have done. That should make me special, at least a little.

Assignment 2

http://lab-lamp.scm.cityu.edu.hk/~ykylee3/

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Is it about free will?
Or about capitalism and communism??
ahhh or is it commenting on the financial market of bonds and futures and debts??
or bit-coins??

4th dimension vs internet?
pros and cons of network/bonding

That was a heavy text, it makes people feel powerless. Sometimes I'd think of the electronic world as an illusion, which I suppose I am the one to project and control the situations, but eventually I am the one to be tamed. It's something similar to a trueman show, where people trapped inside struggles getting lost and confused of what to believe. Especially if one don't understand the capacity of the technology, s/he'd be totally subjective.

I hate to admit but networks and all those handy electronic devices make us mentally fragile, we are completely exposed to all sorts of hypnosis disguised as "useful/productive" information.

When I was in high school, I studied some general business administration, and there is one line from the textbook I could hardly unsee. It said: marketing is the act to create needs and wants. Since then, I slowly realized how companies(or businesses) controls human behavior and I learnt to be skeptical of information.

Sometimes I would think of the internet and the electronic world as the 4th dimension, which the devices are just the point of the connected surface. As there ought to be lots of things more, but they're in anyway unreachable from where we are at the moment.

According to the theory of dimensions that each dimension is a sub-level of its higher dimension. For instance, a shadow (2D) is a projection of an object (3D). Comparing this to the reality, or better to say as the society that we live in, one similar example that I could think of is the effect of currency control constrained almost dominantly by exchange rates on the accessibility (including the prices) of goods.

Assignment 1

The exhibition space on 3rd floor of CMC is often too cold. Extra cold comparing to other areas in the building. We should hand out duvets/hot whiskey/chocolate together with exhibition flyers/pamphlets for the guests when there're open events happening there.

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Shows/seminars/movies are quite often disturbed by continuous murmurs, and often the mutterings gets louder and louder. A spotlight along with the Hallelujah Chorus might be good for the inconsiderate ones.