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badBIOS revisited - it is possible to bridge the airgap after all

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40hz:
This topic came up in an earlier DoCo post started by Renegade here.



It's a far cry from being a viable vector for in-the-wild malware. But researchers in Germany have apparently developed a 'proof of concept' piece of malware that can bridge the "air gap" between unconnected PCs at distances up to 65 feet using the internal speakers and microphone found in most modern laptops - with longer distances possible using an acoustic mesh network made up of previously infected machines.

Full ArsTechnica write-up here.

Scientist-developed malware covertly jumps air gaps using inaudible sound
Malware communicates at a distance of 65 feet using built-in mics and speakers.

by Dan Goodin - Dec 2 2013, 2:29pm EST

Computer scientists have developed a malware prototype that uses inaudible audio signals to communicate, a capability that allows the malware to covertly transmit keystrokes and other sensitive data even when infected machines have no network connection.

The proof-of-concept software—or malicious trojans that adopt the same high-frequency communication methods—could prove especially adept in penetrating highly sensitive environments that routinely place an "air gap" between computers and the outside world. Using nothing more than the built-in microphones and speakers of standard computers, the researchers were able to transmit passwords and other small amounts of data from distances of almost 65 feet. The software can transfer data at much greater distances by employing an acoustical mesh network made up of attacker-controlled devices that repeat the audio signals.
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Interesting reading. Especially some of the more knowledgeable comments attached to the main article.

Check it out! 8)

ewemoa:
Nice find.

With a higher bandwidth, it might be interesting to use as an alternative network :)

40hz:
^Yeah. My thoughts exactly. An acoustic mesh network sounded intruguing - and useful

 8)

ewemoa:
Could we practice injecting into the network by voicce? ;)

x16wda:
Could we practice injecting into the network by voicce? ;)
-ewemoa (December 03, 2013, 08:57 PM)
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How about with a whistle?  Maybe a nice cheap one from a box of crunchy sugar-laden cereal...

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