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LiveScience
LiveScience
Drew Turney

VR headsets vulnerable to 'Inception attacks' — where hackers can mess with your sense of reality and steal your data

Image manipulation of the Chicago skyline with mirror effect, creating a new dimension with the city connecting upside down by the skyscrapers.

Scientists have identified a vulnerability in virtual reality (VR) headsets that could let hackers access private information without the wearers' knowledge. 

A hacker can insert a new "layer" between the user and the device's normal image source. Hackers can then deploy a fake app in the VR headset that might trick the wearer into behaving in specific ways or giving up their data. This is known as an "Inception layer," referring to Chris Nolan's 2010 sci-fi thriller in which espionage agents infiltrate a target's mind and implant an idea the target assumes is their own. 

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