Editing Van Eck phreaking (section)

== History ==

Government researchers were already aware of the danger, as [[Bell Labs]] had noted this vulnerability to secure [[teleprinter]] communications during [[World War II]] and was able to produce 75% of the plaintext being processed in a secure facility from a distance of 80 feet (24 metres).<ref name="Boak" /> Additionally, the NSA published ''Tempest Fundamentals, NSA-82-89, NACSIM 5000, National Security Agency'' (Classified) on February 1, 1982. Also, the van Eck technique was successfully demonstrated to non-TEMPEST personnel in [[Korea]] during the [[Korean War]] in the 1950s.

In 1985, [[Wim van Eck]] published the first unclassified technical analysis of the security risks of emanations from [[computer monitor]]s.<ref name="Greenberg" /><ref name="emr" /> This paper caused some consternation in the security community, which had previously believed that such monitoring was a highly sophisticated attack available only to [[governments]]; van Eck successfully eavesdropped on a real system, at a range of hundreds of [[metre]]s, using just $15 worth of equipment plus a [[television]] set.

In the paper, Van Eck reports that in February 1985, a successful test of this concept was carried out with the cooperation of the [[BBC]]. Using a van filled with electronic equipment and equipped with a [[Very high frequency|VHF]] [[antenna array (electromagnetic)|antenna array]], they were able to eavesdrop from a "large distance". There is no evidence that the BBC's [[TV detector van]]s used this technology, although the BBC will not reveal whether or not they are a hoax.<ref name="Telegraph-2013-09-27" />

Van Eck phreaking and protecting a CRT display from it was demonstrated on an episode of Tech TV's ''[[The Screen Savers]]'' on December 18, 2003.<ref name="g4tv" /><ref name="Screen Savers" />