Hackers add malicious hardware to repertoire
01/05/2008 12:15:09
Hackers are designing malicious hardware and adding this to an arsenal that already includes a wide range of malicious software programs.
Such illegal circuits operate on a deeper level than a virus and can be added to processors and used to take over entire computers, according to New Scientist.
A research team at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, headed by Samuel King, discovered that the circuits allowed hackers to bypass security controls on Leon3 security systems without requiring there to be any flaw in the software application.
Mr King said: "Once you have this mechanism in place, you can do whatever you want."
He added that full-time cybercriminals are more likely to use malicious hardware than part-timers, going on to say that attackers must either have access to a chip during its design or manufacture, or be capable of manufacturing their own chips.
"It's not something someone would carry out on weekends," said Mr King.
Earlier this week, a Ponemon Institute study suggested that in order for businesses to avoid the financial cost resulting from lost data, they need better insight into where their information is stored and where it is going. 
