Deep Dive 5 threats affecting hardware (Part-2)
Certain firmware responsible for managing discrete hardware components has been getting increasingly complex and is subject to vulnerabilities and exploits. The worst thing is, that in many cases existing threat detection systems are impotent.
To cast some light onto this alarming trend, let's review one by one the top 5 dangerous hardware vulnerabilities that have recently been found in today's PCs. Today we bring you the second installment:
#2: Hard drives
While we are on the subject of RAM, let's cover hard drives. Thanks to the recent Kaspersky-commissioned research of Equation cybercriminal group, we are now aware of the fact that the controller firmware in hard drives might contain a lot of interesting curios.
For example, those include malware modules which hijack control over the affected PC and function, essentially, in the 'God mode.' After a hack like this, a hard drive is damaged beyond repair: the controller firmware infected with a malicious code hides the sectors containing malware and blocks any attempt to fix the firmware. Even formatting would be in vain: the most reliable method to get rid of the malware is physical destruction of the hacked hard drive.
The good news here is that the attack is tedious work and a costly piece of hacking. That's why the absolute majority of users can relax and not even think of the possibility of their HDDs being hacked, except, possibly, those in possession of data so valuable that the exorbitant expenses of the associated attack are justified.
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