This one is from several years ago — “Reflected and diffuse light from an obscured computer monitor can still be used to reconstruct what is on its screen, say UK researchers. The technique could be used to spy on computers through an office window, for example, even if the monitor was not facing the window.” (New Scientist) The system only works for CRTs, so your laptops and flat panel displays are safe. It was also thought that flat panels were safe from Van Eck phreaking, in which images can be reconstructed by tuning in to the radio coils in CRTs. But the same researcher from the earlier result, Cambridge University’s Marcus Kuhn, has reconstructed LCD images by tuning in to radio transmissions from the video cables carrying the signal to the display. (New Scientist via abby)