ZEE Business
ZEE BUSINESS
हिंदी में पढ़ें  हिंदी में पढ़ें
Live TV
Live TV
  • Home
  • Personal Finance
    • PPF
    • Mutual Funds
    • Income tax
    • EPFO
    • Income Tax Calculator
    • Personal Loan Calculator
    • Car Loan Calculator
    • Home Loan Calculator
    • SIP calculator
    • SWP Calculator
    • MF Returns Calculator
    • Lumpsum Calculator
  • India
    • Companies
    • Property
    • Startups
    • Uidai
  • Economy
    • Aviation
  • Tech
    • Mobiles
    • Apps
  • Auto
    • Cars
    • Bikes
  • Markets
    • Commodities
    • Currency
  • Railways
  • World
    • Economy
    • Politics
    • Markets
  • Survey
  • videos
  • photos
  • More ...
    • VIDEOS
    • PHOTOS
BREAKING NEWS
  • Dalal Street Corner: Market ends flat even as FII selling nears exhaustion; what should investors do on Friday?
  • Exclusive: June GST collections estimated at Rs 1.37-1.39 lakh cr, sources tell Zee Business ahead of announcement on 1 July
  • Eknath Shinde sworn in as 30th Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Fadnavis becomes Deputy CM
  • Gold Price Today: Weaker Rupee to hold yellow metal slide domestically, amid strengthening Dollar; analyst suggests strategy
  • Monsoon session of Parliament to begin on July 18; to end on August 12
Read in App
Business News » India News

Have a laptop? Beware! You can suffer big losses from hackers even through chargers

A study conducted by the University of Cambridge and Rice University researchers reveal  majority  of the laptops are vulnerable to hacks through plug-in devices.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linkedin
  • whatapp
  • View in App
Have a laptop? Beware! You can suffer big losses from hackers even through chargers
In addition to plug-in devices like network and graphics cards, attacks can also be carried out by seemingly innocuous peripherals. Photo: Pixabay

Most modern day laptops and desktops are vulnerable to the hacking through plug-in or charger devices, reveals a study conducted by the researchers from the University of Cambridge in the UK and Rice University in the US. The findings of the study shows that attackers can compromise an unattended machine in a matter of seconds through devices such as chargers and docking stations. the vulnerability to attach was found in both laptops and desktops with Thunderbolt ports running Windows, macOS, Linux and FreeBSD.  
 
The researchers from both the UK and the US universities exposed the vulnerabilities through Thunderclap, an open-source platform they have created to study the security of computer peripherals and their interactions with operating systems. The Thunderclap can be plugged into computers using a USB-C port that supports the Thunderbolt interface and allows the researchers to investigate techniques available to attackers. The researchers found that potential attacks could take complete control of the targeted desktop and laptops.

See Zee Business video below:

#LIVE | दिनभर के बाजार का पूरा एक्शन देखिए #FinalTrade में @AnilSinghviZEE और बाजार के दिग्गजों के साथ। https://t.co/0Bu9sj09Sv

— Zee Business (@ZeeBusiness) February 26, 2019

In addition to plug-in devices like network and graphics cards, attacks can also be carried out by seemingly innocuous peripherals like chargers and projectors that correctly charge or project video but simultaneously compromise the host machine.
Computer peripherals such as network cards and graphics processing units have direct memory access (DMA), which allows them to bypass operating system security policies.
 
DMA attacks abusing this access have been widely employed to take control of and extract sensitive data from target machines.

Current systems feature input-output memory management units (IOMMUs) which can protect against DMA attacks by restricting memory access to peripherals that perform legitimate functions and only allowing access to non-sensitive regions of memory.
 
However, IOMMU protection is frequently turned off in many systems and the new research shows that, even when the protection is enabled, it can be compromised.

"We have demonstrated that current IOMMU usage does not offer full protection and that there is still the potential for sophisticated attackers to do serious harm," said Brett Gutstein, who is one of the members of the research team.

The vulnerabilities were discovered in 2016 and the researchers have been working with technology companies such as Apple, Intel and Microsoft to address the security risks. 
Companies have begun to implement fixes that address some of the vulnerabilities that the researchers uncovered; several vendors have released security updates in the last two years.

However, the research shows that solving the general problem remains elusive and that recent developments, such as the rise of hardware interconnects like Thunderbolt 3 that combine power input, video output and peripheral device DMA over the same port, have greatly increased the threat from malicious devices, charging stations and projectors that take control of connected machines.
 
The researchers want to see technology companies taking further action, but also stress the need for individuals to be aware of the risks. (With inputs from PTI)

 

Get Latest Business News, Stock Market Updates and Videos; Check your tax outgo through Income Tax Calculator and save money through our Personal Finance coverage. Check Business Breaking News Live on Zee Business Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe on YouTube.

TAGS:
Cyber Crime
Written By: ZeeBiz WebTeam
Updated: Tue, Feb 26, 2019
03:49 pm
New Delhi, ZeeBiz WebDesk
RELATED NEWS
Prevention of Cyber Crime: How MHA's Cyber Dost Twitter handle acts as big shot in the arm for spreading awareness Prevention of Cyber Crime: How MHA's Cyber Dost Twitter handle acts as big shot in the arm for spreading awareness
Modi government takes big steps, several initiatives to spread awareness on prevention of Cyber Crime Modi government takes big steps, several initiatives to spread awareness on prevention of Cyber Crime
How to prevent phishing and email scams - Top tips | Don't fall prey to online scams How to prevent phishing and email scams - Top tips | Don't fall prey to online scams
Cyber Security: How to create strong password? Check these 5 steps explained by Digital India Cyber Security: How to create strong password? Check these 5 steps explained by Digital India
Beware of fraudulent customer care numbers, SBI tells in customers alert; refer official website, it says Beware of fraudulent customer care numbers, SBI tells in customers alert; refer official website, it says

LATEST NEWS

2022 Maruti Suzuki BREZZA: Maruti Suzuki launches New Brezza today, Check price, features, and more

OnePlus Nord 2T 5G India launch today: Check expected price, specifications and more

Toyota India set to unveil Toyota Hyryder tomorrow, Check details here

Opening Bell: Nifty slips below 15,700, Sensex sheds over 350 points; Auto, Consumer Durables worst hit

US stocks see worst first half drop in over 50 years

Toyota Hyryder Unveiled: Toyota India unveils new self-charging hybrid electric SUV in India; check details

Excise duty on petrol, diesel, ATF hiked up to Rs 12; details

Virtual Digital Assets: VDAs to attract 1% TDS from today; know what CBDT says about new norms

Dalal Street Corner: Market ends flat even as FII selling nears exhaustion; what should investors do on Friday?

Copper Set to Post Worst Quarterly Performance in Over 2 Years

  • India News
  • World News
  • Companies News
  • Market News
  • Personal Finance News
  • Technology News
  • Automobile News
  • Small Business News
  • Income Tax Calculator
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Author
  • Rss Feed
  • Advertise with us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Legal Disclaimer

Latest Trending Updates

  • EPFO
  • Budget 2020
  • Income Tax Return
  • Auto Expo 2020
  • Home Loan
  • Business News

Trending Topics

  • Income Tax
  • income Tax Calculator
  • 7th Pay Commission
  • Reserve Bank of India
  • GST
  • Latest Business News

Follow us on

zeebiz
zeebiz

Partner Sites

  • Zee News
  • Hindi News
  • Marathi News
  • Bengali News
  • Tamil News
  • Malayalam News
  • Gujarati News
  • Telugu News
  • Kannada News
  • DNA
  • WION
© 2022. India Dot Com Private Limited. All Rights Reserved.
LIVE TV