For many years, Apple computers where known as indestructible machines against any malicious infections. It was only matter of time for things to change and let hackers learn how to bypass Macs wonderful protection just the way PCs had been for years. PCs have always been known to get infected by virus/malware and have lost reputation because of it, converting many PC users to Mac users. Two researchers Xeno Kovah and Trammell Hudson are computer scientist focusing on firmware research testing to see how deep a virus/malware is able to get, if it’s detectable, and how could it be removed. Kovah, owner of LegbaCore, a firmware security consultancy, and Trammell Hudson, a security engineer with Two Sigma Investments.
Rendering to their findings, hackers have started specifically targeting a computers firmware making it extremely difficult to detect or even realize that a computer is infected. A malicious malware with intentions of attacking a computers firmware will embed its malicious code and quickly spread throughout the computer to include any peripherals. The ability to spread into peripherals becomes extremely dangerous as many users share peripherals between them allowing the attack to extend to another computer without any difficulties.
This malicious attack is extremely difficult to get rid of. Reinstalling the operating system (OS) will not resolve the issue as the issue is not on the hard drive but on firmware. In attempt of reinstalling the OS, the attack will recognize the reboot of the system and force itself back and granting itself full access. In cases, the attack will attack the option ROM not allowing it to reboot the OS. The only other way to bypass this issue is by re-flashing the BIOS (Basic input/output System) which is a software that supports the rebooting of the system.
As of now, there is no antivirus or antimalware security protection that will scan for firmware infections as they are not able to scan that deep into a computer yet. Meaning that most computers are vulnerable to this attack even with antivirus/malware protection installed in their machine. A huge vulnerability that remains in most computers leaving users with the risk of being hacked and not knowing.
“[The attack is] really hard to detect, it’s really hard to get rid of, and it’s really hard to protect against something that’s running inside the firmware,” said Xeno Kovah.
So what is the solution to this horrendous attack, you may ask? Because the issue does not reside in the hard drive, re-flashing the firmware that contains the infection will be the only way of eradicating the embedded attack. Many users will not know their way around firmware, that’s why it is being targeted because it’s undetected. Let the professionals deal with this issue and analyze any possible aspect of where the virus resides.
Your success is important to us, but knowing how to apply all the right tools could be a tricky situation. Motionborg is here to help with your needs of Computer Maintenance, web design, SEO, graphic design, and any website maintenance. We guarantee that our efforts will place you a step closer to your success.
Contact us today and see how Motionborg can apply all these tools simultaneously to significantly impact your business! Consultations are FREE!
Learn more about: Mac vs PC
Learn more about: Why You Need Antivirus Software?
Learn more about: Hackers Using Malware
by Benjamin C Ramirez
MOTIONBORG, Inc.
Technology Consultant at MOTIONBORG
With a natural passion for technology, he is always on the search for next great invention to test out and play with. Enjoys sharing his thoughts and knowledge with others through blogging. Helping business owners on how to better utilize technology to their advantage has become the true meaning of success and life.
Latest posts by MOTIONBORG (see all)
- Speed Up Your WordPress Website with Security Firewall & CDN - April 25, 2019
- Choosing the Plugins for Your Right WordPress Website - April 25, 2019
- Why You Need Social Media Pages to Promote Your Website - February 18, 2019