UK Cyber Spooks: 'Is Your Computer Monitor Spying On You?'

Endpoint Security , Geo Focus: The United Kingdom , Geo-Specific UK Cyber Spooks: 'Is Your Computer Monitor Spying On You?' NCSC Designs 'SilentGlass' Gadget to Protect Overlooked Computer Peripheral Mathew J. Schwartz (euroinfosec) • April 23, 2026     Credit Eligible Get Permission SilentGlass is the first device to bear U.K. National Cyber Security Center branding. (Image: NCSC/Shutterstock/ISMG) Of all the overlooked cybersecurity risks on any office desk, there is probably one more overlooked than any other. It easily could be the thing you're looking at now: a desktop monitor. See Also: Strengthening Your Security Program With Open API It's easy to ignore computer monitors. They mostly just work. But like almost anything with a digital component, monitors' apparent simplicity masks a welter of processors that hackers could use to steal data or manipulate on-screen content. The United Kingdom's National Cyber Security Center, part of intelligence agency GCHQ, says the answer is to run monitor cables through a gadget it designed and licensed to British secure hardware maker Goldilock Labs. It unveiled the plug-and-play device at the NCSC's annual CyberUK conference, held this year in Glasgow, Scotland (see: UK: Russian Hacking Reaches New Levels of Hostility). A certain amount of skepticism over the device, dubbed "SilentGlass," would be normal. "Can anyone genuinely tell me what risk this is addressing or is it a solution in search of a problem?" tweeted Scottish hacking personality Scott McGready. Proponents insist the gadget is useful and necessary. "Display screens and monitors are everywhere in modern business environments, and the SilentGlass device will help protect previously vulnerable IT infrastructure with unprecedented ease," said Ollie Whitehouse, CTO of the NCSC. Goldilock Labs said it's pitching the device to "governments and risk-conscious organizations" and expects to see traction especially with organizations operating in critical national infrastructure environments, including for securing operational technology systems. Whether or not suborned display attacks have been seen in the wild, supply-chain attacks involving such hardware could introduce malicious functionality at the point of manufacturing, during the fulfillment step or after the device has been rolled out, at either the hardware or software level. There is some public data suggesting the risk isn't entirely hypothetical. Chinese manufacturers control 80% of the display glass market - comprising LCD and OLED displays - in North America, reported market researcher Omdia last year. Researchers have occasionally throughout the years poked at monitors to come up with novel attacks, as in the 2024 paper detailing the use of artificial intelligence to decode the electromagnetic waves coming off a HDMI cable. A 2020 paper said hackers could introduce malware onto a computer that imperceptibly changes the brightness levels of monitors to transmit stolen data to a video camera. Government officials at the conference declined to comment on whether they've seen backdoored monitors being used to compromise systems in either the public or private sector. SilentGlass comes in two different versions: one for HDMI connections and the other for DisplayPort. Anyone using USB-C apparently will just have to risk it. Officials said additional devices could follow - for example, for protecting other commonly used peripheral connections, such as for keyboards and mice. With additional reporting from ISMG's David Perera in Northern Virginia.