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Security researchers have discovered a new class of security vulnerabilities that impacts all major operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS, Linux, and FreeBSD, allowing attackers to bypass protection mechanisms introduced to defend against DMA attacks. Known for years, Direct memory access (DMA)-based attacks let an attacker compromise a targeted computer in a matter of seconds by plugging-in a malicious hot plug device—such as an external network card, mouse, keyboard, printer, storage, and graphics card—into Thunderbolt 3 port or the latest USB-C port . The DMA-based attacks are possible because Thunderbolt port allows connected peripherals to bypass operating system security policies and directly read/write system memory that contains sensitive information including your passwords, banking logins, private files, and browser activity. That means, simply plugging in an infected device, created using tools like Interception , can manipulate the contents o...

Certain motherboard models from vendors like ASRock, ASUSTeK Computer, GIGABYTE, and MSI are affected by a security vulnerability that leaves them susceptible to early-boot direct memory access ( DMA ) attacks across architectures that implement a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface ( UEFI ) and input–output memory management unit ( IOMMU ). UEFI and IOMMU are designed to enforce a security foundation and prevent peripherals from performing unauthorized memory accesses, effectively ensuring that DMA-capable devices can manipulate or inspect system memory before the operating system is loaded. The vulnerability, discovered by Nick Peterson and Mohamed Al-Sharifi of Riot Games in certain UEFI implementations, has to do with a discrepancy in the DMA protection status. While the firmware indicates that DMA protection is active, it fails to configure and enable the IOMMU during the critical boot phase. "This gap allows a malicious DMA-capable Peripheral Component Interconnect E...

A team of security researchers has discovered a new set of techniques that could allow hackers to bypass all kind of present mitigations put in place to prevent DMA-based Rowhammer attacks against Android devices. Dubbed RAMpage , the new technique (CVE-2018-9442) could re-enable an unprivileged Android app running on the victim's device to take advantage from the previously disclosed Drammer attack , a variant of DRAM Rowhammer  hardware vulnerability for Android devices, in an attempt to gain root privileges on the target device. You might have already read a few articles about RAMpage on the Internet or even the research paper, but if you are still unable to understand— what the heck is RAMpage —we have briefed the research in language everyone can understand. Before jumping directly on the details of RAMpage, it is important for you to understand what is RowHammer vulnerability, how it can be exploited using Drammer attack to hack Android devices and what mitigations G...

A cybersecurity researcher today uncovers a set of 7 new unpatchable hardware vulnerabilities that affect all desktops and laptops sold in the past 9 years with Thunderbolt, or Thunderbolt-compatible USB-C ports. Collectively dubbed 'ThunderSpy,' the vulnerabilities can be exploited in 9 realistic evil-maid attack scenarios, primarily to steal data or read/write all of the system memory of a locked or sleeping computer—even when drives are protected with full disk encryption. In a nutshell, if you think someone with a few minutes of physical access to your computer—regardless of the location—can cause any form of significant harm to you, you're at risk for an evil maid attack. According to Björn Ruytenberg of the Eindhoven University of Technology, the ThunderSpy attack "may require opening a target laptop's case with a screwdriver, [but] it leaves no trace of intrusion and can be pulled off in just a few minutes." In other words, the flaw is not li...

Macintosh computers are often considered to be safer than those running Windows operating system, but a recently discovered attack technique proves it all wrong. All an attacker needs is a $300 device to seize full control of your Mac or MacBook. Swedish hacker and penetration tester Ulf Frisk has developed a new device that can steal the password from virtually any Mac laptop while it is sleeping or even locked in just 30 seconds, allowing hackers to unlock any Mac computer and even decrypt the files on its hard drive. So, next time when you leave your Apple's laptop unattended, be sure to shut it down completely rather than just putting the system in sleep mode or locked. Here's How an Attacker can steal your Mac FileVault2 Password The researcher devised this technique by exploiting two designing flaws he discovered last July in Apple's FileVault2 full-disk encryption software. The first issue is that the Mac system does not protect itself against Direc...

Meta has offered details on how it intends to implement interoperability in WhatsApp and Messenger with third-party messaging services as the Digital Markets Act (DMA) went into effect in the European Union. "This allows users of third-party providers who choose to enable interoperability (interop) to send and receive messages with opted-in users of either Messenger or WhatsApp – both designated by the European Commission (EC) as being required to independently provide interoperability to third-party messaging services," Meta's Dick Brouwer  said . DMA, which officially  became enforceable  on March 7, 2024, requires companies in gatekeeper positions – Apple, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and ByteDance – to meet certain obligations as part of the European Commission's efforts to clamp down on anti-competitive practices from tech players, level the playing field, as well as compel them to open some of their services to competitors. As part of its efforts to compl...

WhatsApp has introduced an extra layer of privacy called Advanced Chat Privacy that allows users to block participants from sharing the contents of a conversation in traditional chats and groups. "This new setting available in both chats and groups helps prevent others from taking content outside of WhatsApp for when you may want extra privacy," WhatsApp said in a statement. The optional feature, when enabled, prevents others from exporting chats, auto-downloading media to their phone, and using messages for artificial intelligence (AI) features. However, it's worth noting users can still take individual screenshots, or manually download the media. The popular messaging service said the feature is "best used" when engaging in sensitive conversations with groups where it's possible that users may not know everyone closely. The feature, WhatsApp said, is rolling to all users who are on the latest version of the application. The disclosure comes as the ...

The world of hacking has become more organized and reliable over recent years and so the techniques of hackers. Nowadays, attackers use highly sophisticated tactics and often go to extraordinary lengths in order to mount an attack. And there is something new to the list: A team of developers has created not one, but two pieces of malware that run on an infected computer's graphics processor unit (GPU) instead of its central processor unit (CPU), in order to enhance their stealthiness and computational efficiency. The two pieces of malware: Jellyfish Rootkit for Linux operating system Demon Keylogger The source code of both the Jellyfish Rootkit and the Demon keylogger, which are described as proof-of-concepts malware, have been published on Github. Until now, security researchers have discovered nasty malware running on the CPU and exploiting the GPU capabilities in an attempt to mine cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoins. However, these two malware co...

Meta has suspended the use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in Brazil after the country's data protection authority issued a preliminary ban objecting to its new privacy policy. The development was first reported by news agency Reuters. The company said it has decided to suspend the tools while it is in talks with Brazil's National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) to address the agency's concerns over its use of GenAI technology. Earlier this month, ANPD halted with immediate effect the social media giant's new privacy policy that granted the company access to users' personal data to train its GenAI systems. The decision stems from "the imminent risk of serious and irreparable damage or difficult-to-repair damage to the fundamental rights of the affected data subjects," the agency said. It further set a daily fine of 50,000 reais (about $9,100 as of July 18) in case of non-compliance. Last week, it gave Meta "five more days to p...

Meta's decision to offer an ad-free subscription in the European Union (E.U.) has faced a new setback after regulators accused the social media behemoth of breaching the bloc's competition rules by forcing users to choose between seeing ads or paying to avoid them. The European Commission said the company's "pay or consent" advertising model is in contravention of the Digital Markets Act ( DMA ). "This binary choice forces users to consent to the combination of their personal data and fails to provide them a less personalized but equivalent version of Meta's social networks," the Commission said . It also noted that companies in gatekeeper roles must seek users' permission to combine their personal data between designated core platform services and other services (e.g., advertising), and that users who refuse to opt in should have access to a less personalized but equivalent alternative. On top of that, Meta's approach does not allow us...

Two separate teams of security researchers have published working proof-of-concept exploits for an unpatchable vulnerability in Nvidia's Tegra line of embedded processors that comes on all currently available Nintendo Switch consoles. Dubbed Fusée Gelée and ShofEL2 , the exploits lead to a coldboot execution hack that can be leveraged by device owners to install Linux, run unofficial games, custom firmware, and other unsigned code on Nintendo Switch consoles, which is typically not possible. Both exploits take advantage of a buffer overflow vulnerability in the USB software stack of read-only boot instruction ROM (IROM/bootROM), allowing unauthenticated arbitrary code execution on the game console before any lock-out operations (that protect the chip's bootROM) take effect. The buffer overflow vulnerability occurs when a device owner sends an "excessive length" argument to an incorrectly coded USB control procedure, which overflows a crucial direct memory a...

Meta has been given time till September 1, 2024, to respond to concerns raised by the European Commission over its "pay or consent" advertising model or risk-facing enforcement measures, including sanctions. The European Commission said the Consumer Protection Cooperation ( CPC ) Network has notified the social media giant that the model adopted for Facebook and Instagram might potentially violate consumer protection laws. It described the new practice as misleading and confusing, with authorities expressing worries that consumers might have been pressured into choosing quickly between either paying for a monthly subscription or consenting to their personal data being used for targeted advertising. This, the agency said, could have been motivated by fears that they "would instantly lose access to their accounts and their network of contacts." Meta, which introduced a subscription plan for European Union (E.U.) users in late 2023, has run into hot water over o...

Raspberry Pi is gaining new heights by rapidly maturing as; after Microsoft made Windows 10 IoT core supporting the Raspberry Pi 2 , now a new version FreeBSD operating system is also deployable on Raspberry Pi devices, called RaspBSD . FreeBSD (Berkeley Software Distribution) is an open source Unix-like advanced computer operating system used to power modern servers, desktops and embedded systems. Though FreeBSD-CURRENT has supported Raspberry Pi since November 2012 and Raspberry Pi 2 since March 2015, RaspBSD will support the Pi models B and B+. As Raspberry Pi is a full fledged ARM system, FreeBSD/ARM is contributing to the list of the third-party operating system which support Raspberry Pi. This is not an official release as yet, the FreeBSD developers have made an image (Beta version) available for the users to play around with the Operating System and give their feedback and suggestions for the issues they encounter. RaspBSD Available For Download ...

Security researchers have disclosed an unpatched weakness in Microsoft Windows Platform Binary Table (WPBT) affecting all Windows-based devices since Windows 8 that could be potentially exploited to install a rootkit and compromise the integrity of devices. "These flaws make every Windows system vulnerable to easily-crafted attacks that install fraudulent vendor-specific tables," researchers from Eclypsium  said  in a report published on Monday. "These tables can be exploited by attackers with direct physical access, with remote access, or through manufacturer supply chains. More importantly, these motherboard-level flaws can obviate initiatives like  Secured-core  because of the ubiquitous usage of  ACPI  [Advanced Configuration and Power Interface] and WPBT." WPBT, introduced with Windows 8 in 2012, is a  feature  that enables "boot firmware to provide Windows with a platform binary that the operating system can execute."  In other wor...

Apple has announced that it prevented over $2 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions and rejected roughly 1.7 million app submissions for privacy and security violations in 2022. The computing giant said it terminated 428,000 developer accounts for potential fraudulent activity, blocked 105,000 fake developer account creations, and deactivated 282 million bogus customer accounts. It further noted that it thwarted 198 million attempted fraudulent new accounts prior to their creation. In contrast, Apple is estimated to have booted out 802,000 developer accounts in 2021. The company attributed the decline to new App Store "methods and protocols" that prevent the creation of such accounts in the first place. "In 2022, Apple protected users from nearly 57,000 untrustworthy apps from illegitimate storefronts," the company  emphasized . "These unauthorized marketplaces distribute harmful software that can imitate popular apps or alter them without the cons...

Exploitation of Rowhammer attack just got easier. Dubbed ' Throwhammer ,' the newly discovered technique could allow attackers to launch Rowhammer attack on the targeted systems just by sending specially crafted packets to the vulnerable network cards over the local area network. Known since 2012, Rowhammer is a severe issue with recent generation dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips in which repeatedly accessing a row of memory can cause "bit flipping" in an adjacent row, allowing anyone to change the contents of computer memory. The issue has since been exploited in a number of ways to achieve remote code execution on the vulnerable computers and servers. Just last week, security researchers detailed a proof-of-concept Rowhammer attack technique, dubbed GLitch , that leverages embedded graphics processing units (GPUs) to carry out Rowhammer attacks against Android devices. However, all previously known Rowhammer attack techniques required privilege escal...