- Jun 24, 2016
- 636
Hackers can remotely bug almost ANY machine: Malware hijacks office equipment to create spying devices:
HOW DOES FUNTENNA WORK?
Funtenna exploits radio frequencies, or RF signals, to turn office equipment into bugging devices.
It uses all the common pieces of hardware that can be found in basically every embedded device.
By uploading the malware to a device, the hackers can vibrate the prongs on general-purpose input/output circuits, on most embedded devices, at a frequency of their choice.
These vibrations can be picked up by a radio antenna.
In an example, the software was delivered to the phone through a printer.
The researchers sent a document, in the form of a CV, to the printer, which was connected to the same network as the phone, which installed the malware.
The phone then began transmitting the conversation it could hear using radio waves to a nearby computer.
Because the devices themselves are acting as transmitters, the technique bypasses all conventional network security.
THE SEVEN TYPES OF HACKERS:
According to security software developer McAfee, there are seven types of hackers.
- A New York-based security firm has developed malware called funtenna
- Funtenna uses software to make office phones and printers transmit data
- Phones can turn into listening devices to share conversations they hear
- Printers can send out a kind of Morse code that hackers can translate
HOW DOES FUNTENNA WORK?
Funtenna exploits radio frequencies, or RF signals, to turn office equipment into bugging devices.
It uses all the common pieces of hardware that can be found in basically every embedded device.
By uploading the malware to a device, the hackers can vibrate the prongs on general-purpose input/output circuits, on most embedded devices, at a frequency of their choice.
These vibrations can be picked up by a radio antenna.
In an example, the software was delivered to the phone through a printer.
The researchers sent a document, in the form of a CV, to the printer, which was connected to the same network as the phone, which installed the malware.
The phone then began transmitting the conversation it could hear using radio waves to a nearby computer.
Because the devices themselves are acting as transmitters, the technique bypasses all conventional network security.
THE SEVEN TYPES OF HACKERS:
According to security software developer McAfee, there are seven types of hackers.
- 'Black hat' hackers are bad guys, who are generally motivated to get paid.The 'black hat' hackers are the ones that are most likely to be hacking into autonomous cars.
- Good 'white hat 'hackers are computer security experts who break security so a weakness can be found, fixed and improved.
- 'Script kiddies' are a type of black hat hackers who use borrowed programs to deface websites just to make a name for themselves.
- 'Hacktivists' are motivated by political or religious reasons, or to expose wrongdoing or exact revenge.
- 'State sponsored hackers' are employed by governments around the globe. 'State sponsored hackers have limitless time and funding to target civilians, corporations, and governments,' according to a blog post by Robert Siciliano, online safety expert for Intel Security.
- Corporations hire 'spy hackers' to infiltrate the competition and steal trade secrets.
- 'Cyber terrorists' are generally motivated by religious or political beliefs and they attempt to create fear and chaos by disrupting critical infrastructures.'
