TrendAI Research Exposes AI-Driven Cyber-Physical Intelligence Gathering

TrendAI has published new research identifying a growing trend in cyber-physical intelligence gathering using open-source data. According to the findings, Operational Relay Boxes (ORBs) attributed to China are repeatedly connecting to devices scattered across public spaces—including radio receivers, weather stations, cameras, and maritime and aerial tracking networks—with the aim of harvesting large-scale open data and processing it using artificial intelligence.

The research was authored by Dr. Fyodor Yarochkin, Vladimir Kropotov, and Robert McArdle. It proceeds from a simple premise: the internet is no longer merely a digital communication channel, but a continuous information layer that can be read and automatically processed by machines, reflecting real-time physical events. Aircraft broadcast identity, position, altitude, and speed; ships publish destinations and routes; weather stations and seismic sensors provide continuous geographic data; public cameras transmit images; and logistics systems reveal information about containers, ports, and supply chains. Much of this data is deliberately public for reasons of safety, market efficiency, and scientific cooperation.

Cross-Referencing Data with AI

According to the researchers, the real risk does not lie in any single information source, but in the ability to cross-reference multiple sources over time. When aviation, shipping, radio, weather, camera, satellite, and logistics data are combined, they can assemble a detailed picture of physical activity—such as the movements of senior officials, the deployment of military forces, or sensitive commercial transactions—that no single entity intended to expose, but which artificial intelligence makes possible.

The researchers estimate that the activity of the identified ORB networks may be part of a broader intelligence collection apparatus. It exploits the gap between information published legally and legitimately and the intelligence potential created when cross-referenced with additional sources using AI tools that eliminate complex manual labor.

The Expanding Attack Surface

"The findings illustrate an issue gaining increasing prominence in the world of information security: as more physical infrastructures, from aviation to street cameras, are connected to the network and transmit open data, the greater the need for public and private bodies to understand the expanding attack surface."

This surface stems from seemingly innocent data that may combine into a complete intelligence picture that was never meant to be exposed.