EMIRIS: Eavesdropping on Iris Information via Electromagnetic Side Channel
Wenhao Li
Network and Distributed System Security (NDSS) Symposium 2025 · Day 2 · Electromagnetic Attacks
The talk "EMIRIS: Eavesdropping on Iris Information via Electromagnetic Side Channel" presented by Wenhao Li from Shano University, unveils a novel and concerning vulnerability in iris recognition systems. Iris recognition, lauded for its high entropy and stability, is widely deployed in critical security applications, ranging from ID verification and airport security to banking machines. However, this research demonstrates that the near-infrared (NIR) sensors fundamental to these systems inadvertently emit electromagnetic (EM) signals during operation, creating an exploitable side channel.
AI review
Solid, original EM side-channel research applied to a target — iris biometrics — that hasn't been thoroughly abused in this way before. The methodology is credible, the threat model is realistic, and the commercial device validation elevates it above a pure lab exercise. The diffusion model integration for reconstruction is clever, not gimmicky.