Researchers have developed a method that could enable hackers to listen in on phone conversations by leveraging the motion sensors of the device. Although the attack is still hypothetical, it is the latest in a growing list of phone security worries. 

Smartphones being used as personal snooping devices is a worrying notion that brings up a number of crucial privacy and security-related issues. This phenomenon is occurring more frequently for a number of reasons:

Modern Technology: Over the years, smartphones have developed into immensely strong and complex devices. They are perfect surveillance tools since they have high-resolution cameras, microphones, GPS, and a variety of sensors.

Easy Access: Smartphones are now readily available and omnipresent. The fact that almost everyone possesses a smartphone and takes it with them everywhere they go makes it practical to employ it as a spying device.

Social media platforms and communication: Smartphones offer a variety of avenues for communication, including messaging applications. These platforms can be used to track locations, listen in on conversations, and collect personal data.

Apps for surveillance: A large variety of apps that advertise tracking and monitoring capabilities are readily available in app stores. Some of these apps are promoted as employee monitoring programs or parental control tools, but they can also be used to snoop on unknowing people.

Cybersecurity Issues: As technology develops, so do the techniques for data breaches and hacking. Malicious actors may gain unauthorised access to smartphones, and once inside, they may use them to spy on specific individuals or groups of individuals.

State-Sponsored Surveillance: It has been reported that various governments and intelligence services have used smartphone flaws to track people both at home and abroad.

Lack of Knowledge: Many smartphone users are not entirely aware of the privacy risks that could arise and the extent to which their devices can be used for eavesdropping. They might unintentionally download harmful apps or become a target of social engineering scams.

Personal Relationships: When personal relationships become poisonous, one side may resort to using a smartphone as a spying device to monitor the other person's whereabouts and activities.

Blackmail and revenge: Spying on a person's smartphone can also be done with bad intentions in order to acquire compromising information for blackmail or retaliation.

Researchers from Texas A&M University, Temple University, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, and the University of Dayton identified the new phone assault technique known as EarSpy, which was discussed in a recent study. EarSpy measures the small vibrations produced by the speaker using the phone's accelerometer and speaker. They discovered that the dual speakers available in these more recent models, as opposed to earlier models, allow the accelerometer to capture more data from the ear speaker. Following sound extraction, the researchers used machine learning strategies to make the words understandable.