Wireless Threats: The Data Centre Industry's 'Blind Spot'

Did you know that wireless hacking tools which once cost hundreds of thousands of dollars can now fit in a pocket – and be bought for as little as US$100?

That was one of the starkest warnings delivered by Ivan O’Sullivan, Chief Revenue Officer at Bastille, during the “Securing the Invisible: Wireless Cybersecurity for AI Data Centres” fireside at Data Centre LIVE: The London Summit.

Speaking with moderator Ben Craske, Senior Editor of Data Centre Magazine, Ivan painted a picture of a rapidly evolving threat landscape where sophisticated wireless hacking is no longer confined to governments or elite cybercriminals.

Instead, hacking tools can now be packaged as inexpensive, pocket-sized devices that are widely available online, dramatically lowering the barrier to sophisticated wireless attacks.

The explosive growth of AI infrastructure creates what Ivan described as a dangerous new blind spot for data centre operators.

Held during Day 2 of the two-day event at Exhibition White City on 20-21 May, the session explored why wireless cybersecurity is quickly becoming one of the most urgent conversations in AI infrastructure.

And according to Ivan, the industry is only just waking up to it.

Why are AI data centres suddenly a prime target?

For years, traditional data centre security focused heavily on physical protection and perimeter defence.

Guards, mantraps, biometric scanners and heavily controlled access routes became standard practice.

But AI changes the equation.

“The value of the data has gone up and perimeter security is no longer good enough,” Ivan explained.

Unlike traditional enterprise workloads, AI infrastructure consolidates enormous volumes of highly valuable information into one environment. It houses model weights: the intellectual property underpinning large AI systems.

According to Ivan, those model weights have become a magnet for nation-state adversaries.

“This isn’t schoolboy hackers,” he said. “It’s nation-state adversaries.”

He argued that AI models are now compact enough to be exfiltrated wirelessly at astonishing speed.

With technologies such as Wi-Fi 7 capable of transferring vast amounts of data in minutes, attackers no longer need physical access or massive wired infrastructure to steal sensitive assets.

That, he warned, fundamentally changes how operators must think about cybersecurity.

Could Bluetooth really become a data centre threat?

One of the session’s biggest talking points came from Ivan’s deep dive into Bluetooth vulnerabilities.

Many operators still associate Bluetooth with short-range consumer gadgets like headphones or wireless mice. But Ivan highlighted how dramatically the technology has actually evolved.

Bluetooth range has expanded from a few metres to distances measured in kilometres.

He pointed to experiments by Hubble Network, which recently demonstrated Bluetooth transmissions reaching low Earth orbit satellites.

“If Hubble is doing that for good reasons,” Ivan said, “what I hear from my contacts in the intelligence community is that Chinese manufacturers are only two years behind.”

The implication was stark: wireless signals once assumed to remain safely inside facilities may now travel far beyond perimeter walls.

He also referenced “nearest neighbour” attacks, where adjacent Wi-Fi networks can become unexpected entry points for attackers operating remotely, even from another country.

Are invisible devices already inside facilities?

Beyond external threats, Ivan warned operators about the growing risk hidden inside modern infrastructure itself.

Today’s data centres are packed with connected technology, from smart PDUs and environmental sensors to chillers controlled wirelessly for remote maintenance.

And sometimes convenience creates vulnerability.

Ivan cited a case involving a Bluetooth-enabled chiller system left exposed with default credentials because maintenance engineers preferred managing it remotely from the car park rather than repeatedly passing through physical security controls.

That single oversight, he explained, created a potential entry point into infrastructure supporting major financial operations.

Supply chain security also emerged as a major concern.

With global equipment shortages pushing operators toward alternative procurement channels, Ivan questioned how thoroughly organisations can truly verify every connected component entering facilities.

“If you could get one on Amazon on the grey market,” he asked, “would you be tempted?”

Has wireless hacking become too accessible?

Perhaps the session’s most unsettling revelation was how inexpensive sophisticated wireless hacking tools have become.

Software-defined radios once associated with military systems costing millions are now available for under US$100, Ivan noted.

Meanwhile, devices such as the Flipper Zero have gained notoriety for their ability to manipulate wireless systems and physical access controls.

The democratisation of hacking tools, he argued, means advanced attack capabilities are no longer limited to elite actors.

At the same time, AI data centres are being built at extraordinary speed.

“The speed at which these data centres are going up really shocked us,” Ivan admitted.

And with rapid deployment often prioritised over long-term security architecture, many operators are now retrofitting wireless protection after facilities are already operational.

So what should operators do now?

Ivan O'Sullivan’s final message to operators was simple: perimeter security alone is no longer enough.

Wireless threats cannot be solved through occasional bug sweeps or front-door controls, he argued.

Instead, operators need persistent, facility-wide visibility into wireless activity across their environments.

As AI infrastructure scales globally, the invisible attack surface surrounding data centres is only becoming larger.

And, if this fireside made one thing clear, it’s that the next cybersecurity battle may not happen on the network cable at all, but in the air around it.

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