Router Network Isolation Broken By Covert Data Exfiltration

silversurfer

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Aug 17, 2014
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Software-based network isolation provided by routers is not as efficient as believed, as hackers can smuggle data between the networks for exfiltration.

Most modern routers offer the possibility to split the network into multiple segments that work separately. One example is a guest network that works in parallel with the host.

The boundary insulates sensitive or critical systems from others that enjoy less strict security policies. This practice is common and even a recommended security measure. It is a logical separation that occurs at software level, though, and it is not airtight.

Researchers at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev discovered multiple methods to carry data across two segregated network segments on the same hardware.

They achieved this through direct or timing-based covert channels and tested the findings on seven routers in various price ranges from multiple vendors. The methods do not allow exfiltration of large amounts of data but shows that it is possible to break the logical barrier.
 

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