Stealing secret data from 210m away: HDMI cable as an antenna for pixel-radio malware. π₯οΈαα||απ¨π»βπ»πΌοΈπ
A group of academic security researchers from Shandong University in China presented research earlier this year on a new method of stealing data from air-gapped computers: using SDR equipment and malware on the victim machine, they were able to capture data sent from the protected machine 210 meters away.
One of the crucial prerequisites is pre-installed malware on the victimβs computer, which finds and covertly transmits the information using the HDMI cable between the computer and monitor as an antenna. The modulation is done using a single pixel on the monitor. Neat!
And yes, check the list of monitors that were vulnerable to this attack. Itβs worth showing to your security officer, especially if you work in a protected area.
So, the next time you have a dead pixel on your monitor, check if it blinks :) Stay safe and enjoy the read!
More details:
TrojPix: Electromagnetic Covert Channels via Imperceptible Pixel Modulation [PDF]: https://www.usenix.org/system/files/conference/usenixsecurity26/sec26_prepub_zhang-guoming.pdf
