WHOOPS! Looks like it might be back to the drawing board for the world's spy agencies.

A US student has posted a video on YouTube that proves electronic signals can be picked up and passed through 6cm thick steel walls.

Tristan Lawry, an electrical and computer engineering doctoral candidate at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, says his breakthrough opens up an infinite range of possible uses.

Until now, such wireless technology was limited mainly due to the use of Faraday shielding, a basic necessity that stops machines interfering with each other electronically.

It also has the unfortunate — from a spook's point of view — side effect of giving the Bad Guys a relatively easy time of it when it comes to hiding their electronic evildoings.

Without giving away too many details, Lawry said his technology uses ultrasound to collect electronic data. Vast amounts of data.

That's kind of ho-hum — Google will tell you just how easy that is — until Lawry then shows off in his video the other breakthrough.

"My system has the ability to wirelessly and non-destructively transfer large amounts of electrical power and digital information through thick metallic walls," he says.

Yes, Lawry's devices can transmit and receive at least 50W of electricity.

He demonstrates that by powering a 25W light bulb and streaming digital audio through a 6cm thick steel wall.

On either side are piezo-electric transducers, which is probably about as technical as we should get, if only because Lawry wants to keep his technology a secret for now.

But his secrets may also be MI6's, according to The Register.

Another variation of Lawry's technology was on show last year at Farnborough airshow by global arms corporation BAE.

They told The Reg that "other parties" within the British government had requested they keep the details of their technology under wraps.

Who the "other parties" are and what they would be using such technology for doesn't require a great deal of imagination.

The fact that Lawry's device also transmits a significant amount of power — and he says it can be improved upon — means a spook can wander into any lair, stick one transducer on the wall and transmit any signals from inside from a corresponding transducer on the outside of the wall.

No electronic jamming. No concerns about batteries running flat.

Of course, Lawry couldn't care less if the MI6 suddenly has to find a new way to gather state secrets. He's doing it for the good of humanity and claims it can solve a myriad of design problems.

Submarines are a good example. Because those inside can't collect sensory data from the outside without drilling hundreds of holes through shell for power and data cables, that makes for structural integrity issues.

The same problems arise for aerospace and nuclear engineers.

But for now, it simply means Traistan Lawry's well on his way to becoming either extremely wealthy... or extremely missing.