3 ms·

My takeaway is: if an air-gapped system is compromised, just assume all data on it is at high risk of exfiltration. I won't be surprised if even the power conn

My takeaway is: if an air-gapped system is compromised, just assume all data on it is at high risk of exfiltration. I won't be surprised if even the power connection becomes a future (unintended) means of data transmission.

ByThyGrace 4y ago
No need to wait for the future. It already is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-line_communication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-line_communication
- sneak 4y ago
  Stock hardware, they mean.
- waste_monk 4y ago
  Powerline communications usually needs dedicated Ethernet (or what have you) <-> power line converter... I think they meant something more like powerhammer [1] which works by controlling processor workload, causing the power draw of the system to throttle up and down in such a way that it becomes a useful exfiltration channel (assuming your adversary can tap into a distribution board and measure power usage). [1] https://arxiv.org/pdf/1804.04014.pdf https://arxiv.org/pdf/1804.04014.pdf - by the same guy as the OP paper
  - bitwize 4y ago
    Somewhere, Spacebar Heat Guy[0] is sending coded messages to his handlers via spacebar presses that linger for just 100ms or so too long... [0] https://xkcd.com/1172/ https://xkcd.com/1172/
    - staindk 4y ago
      Every now and then we fix some side-effect-having bug in our codebase that makes me think of SHG. What a lad.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
toomanybeersies 4y ago
> I won't be surprised if even the power connection becomes a future (unintended) means of data transmission. That's already a thing. From the same author as the TFA, PowerHammer [1] exfiltrates data using current flow fluctuations. There's also Powermitter [2] (from some researchers at Wuhan University), which is exfiltration via power supply EMF leakage. [1] https://arxiv.org/pdf/1804.04014.pdf https://arxiv.org/pdf/1804.04014.pdf [2] https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8300280 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8300280

ByThyGrace 4y ago

No need to wait for the future. It already is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-line_communication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-line_communication

sneak 4y ago
Stock hardware, they mean.
waste_monk 4y ago
Powerline communications usually needs dedicated Ethernet (or what have you) <-> power line converter... I think they meant something more like powerhammer [1] which works by controlling processor workload, causing the power draw of the system to throttle up and down in such a way that it becomes a useful exfiltration channel (assuming your adversary can tap into a distribution board and measure power usage). [1] https://arxiv.org/pdf/1804.04014.pdf https://arxiv.org/pdf/1804.04014.pdf - by the same guy as the OP paper
- bitwize 4y ago
  Somewhere, Spacebar Heat Guy[0] is sending coded messages to his handlers via spacebar presses that linger for just 100ms or so too long... [0] https://xkcd.com/1172/ https://xkcd.com/1172/
  - staindk 4y ago
    Every now and then we fix some side-effect-having bug in our codebase that makes me think of SHG. What a lad.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

toomanybeersies 4y ago

> I won't be surprised if even the power connection becomes a future (unintended) means of data transmission. That's already a thing. From the same author as the TFA, PowerHammer [1] exfiltrates data using current flow fluctuations. There's also Powermitter [2] (from some researchers at Wuhan University), which is exfiltration via power supply EMF leakage. [1] https://arxiv.org/pdf/1804.04014.pdf https://arxiv.org/pdf/1804.04014.pdf [2] https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8300280 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8300280