- Jan 24, 2011
- 9,378
Recent research by SophosLabs has discovered an alarming vector by which personal and private data can be exfiltrated from modern-day portable computing devices such as smartphones and tablets, including the popular Apple iPad and iPad 2.
This attack is surprisingly easy to pull off, so we've made the decision not to release precise details in order to reduce the likelihood of it being exploited by cybercriminals. But it involves data leakage through the physical substrate of the device itself - in other words, through the actual metal/plastic/glass package in which the hardware of the device is contained.
Any reasonably small, uncovered, device is at risk of this sort of attack, which SophosLabs has dubbed a substrate hack.
Ironically, the most effective countermeasure identified so far is extremely low-tech.
Shrouding your iPad or smartphone in any metallised plastic or cardboard reduces the effectiveness of the substrate hack to negligible levels.
More details - link
This attack is surprisingly easy to pull off, so we've made the decision not to release precise details in order to reduce the likelihood of it being exploited by cybercriminals. But it involves data leakage through the physical substrate of the device itself - in other words, through the actual metal/plastic/glass package in which the hardware of the device is contained.
Any reasonably small, uncovered, device is at risk of this sort of attack, which SophosLabs has dubbed a substrate hack.
Ironically, the most effective countermeasure identified so far is extremely low-tech.
Shrouding your iPad or smartphone in any metallised plastic or cardboard reduces the effectiveness of the substrate hack to negligible levels.
More details - link
