QWERTY Pi
Sophomore Member
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2013
- Professional Status
- Retired Appraiser
- State
- Illinois
Stuxnet was a gnarly worm (but software based). The shocking trend we’re seeing more and more of, as in the Article referenced, and I quote,
“Hardware hacks are more difficult to pull off and potentially more devastating, promising the kind of long-term, stealth access that spy agencies are willing to invest millions of dollars and many years to get.”
The CEO of Intel sold all his Intel shares before (except the minimim he needs to hold as acting CEO), literally one week before the Google researched Spectre/Meltdown (and now Foreshadowing), Proof of Concept (POC) kernel based speculative execution went Public.
Interesting timing eh? Intel shares dropped 20% on the news.
So point being, as Intel CEO knows full well, these Processor hardware flaws may be the worst exploit we’ve ever seen bc of the hardware insufficiencies of which they will compromise and take advantage.
Hardware hacks and exploits have much farther reaching destructive potential than any software based Malware (loosely used term, but think Software). We’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg now -your Intel or AMD processor may be worthless by the time all the Spectre/Meltdown bugs are patched (patches, for both your OS and Processor Firmware (like Intel AMD microcode updates) decrease performance -some machines these patches can make a recently deemed “Ok” processor completely obsolete (Intel Sandy Bridge anyone?).. When Spectre or Meltdown are publicly found to be exploiting machines, the Sh7t will hit the fan.
Download Steve Gibson’s “InSpectre” from GRC.com. Its a neat too and the literature accompanying the lightweight .exe sheds some light on how well your OS and Mobo Manufacturer are doing with their patches. AV’s can’t catch hardware exploits, which means once (if) you get it, sorry charlie! Data and machine are trash.
