New tool detects electromagnetic attacks

Electromagnetic pulses change the voltage in equipment, so that regulators, switches, and circuit boards in electronic equipment are interfered with. Those affected by it do not know why computers or machines breakdown or from which direction the attack comes.

Now, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Technological Trend Analysis INT, including Michael Jöster, have developed a measurement instrument to pinpoint this threat.

The engineering requirements demand that the detector measures very high field strengths from very short pulses, yet shouldn’t be destroyed or damaged itself.

Four specialised antennas make up the INT demonstration instrument that samples the environment around the subject device to be protected. Each of these covers a quadrant of 90 degrees and is said to detect all types of electromagnetic sources.

A high-frequency module preconditions the signals for measurement and determines when the electromagnetic pulse started and stopped. A computer in a monitoring station connected via an optical conductor then calculates the values for the signal and presents them on a screen.