A team of researchers have managed to make headway into a piece of hardware that can identify malware without needing to download any applications or software to do so.
Malware is definitely one of the most dangerous things that one can encounter online; of course, there’s always that typical unpleasant groups of overbearing lunatics that we keep finding and should also avoid, but they’re typically just very loud and mostly harmless. Malware, on the other hand, is both incredibly silent and very, very dangerous. The purpose of malicious software is to remain undetected for as long as possible, siphoning any sort of personal user data, or absolutely destroying any and all files or other software that the targeted device might have on it. While users may sometimes luck out and accidentally encounter adware instead, which is just software that keeps showing ads to users all while attempting to remain as hidden as possible so as to avoid being uninstalled. Many different antiviruses and other forms of software have been developed solely with the purpose of sniffing out malicious entities on one’s desktop or smartphone; however, malware can sometimes skirt around them, or even damage them before any good can be done.
Researchers at France’s Research Institute of Computer Science and Random Systems have been hard at work attempting to find a hardware fix to this software problem. The solution that they derived comes from a relatively unexpected place. Anyone here remember Raspberry Pi, the computer that they used to teach kids way back in the day? Well, if you haven’t been following the simplistic single-board computer’s history, many individuals in the robotics field started using them as well since Raspberry Pi models are rather cost-effective and, despite their simplicity, pretty efficient. The Research Institute of Computer Science took note as well, to the point that they effectively utilized the computer in order to identify malware.
So, before we go into the explanation, allow me to clarify something: I may be a tech writer, but robotics is a field that I’m not very well-versed in. Hence, my explanations on the matter at hand may be lacking, and I encourage all interested readers to do their research as well. At any rate, our batch of researchers created a custom Raspberry Pi model that scanned other devices with an oscilloscope and H-Field probe. These are devices that can very effectively identify and monitor electromagnetic waves and their activity. Devices running malware emit EMWs of differing frequencies, thus allowing the research team to not only discern infected devices, but also specifically point out what form of malware they’re running.
H/T: TH.
Read next: Researchers hint consumers on how they can protect themselves from cyber security threats
Malware is definitely one of the most dangerous things that one can encounter online; of course, there’s always that typical unpleasant groups of overbearing lunatics that we keep finding and should also avoid, but they’re typically just very loud and mostly harmless. Malware, on the other hand, is both incredibly silent and very, very dangerous. The purpose of malicious software is to remain undetected for as long as possible, siphoning any sort of personal user data, or absolutely destroying any and all files or other software that the targeted device might have on it. While users may sometimes luck out and accidentally encounter adware instead, which is just software that keeps showing ads to users all while attempting to remain as hidden as possible so as to avoid being uninstalled. Many different antiviruses and other forms of software have been developed solely with the purpose of sniffing out malicious entities on one’s desktop or smartphone; however, malware can sometimes skirt around them, or even damage them before any good can be done.
Researchers at France’s Research Institute of Computer Science and Random Systems have been hard at work attempting to find a hardware fix to this software problem. The solution that they derived comes from a relatively unexpected place. Anyone here remember Raspberry Pi, the computer that they used to teach kids way back in the day? Well, if you haven’t been following the simplistic single-board computer’s history, many individuals in the robotics field started using them as well since Raspberry Pi models are rather cost-effective and, despite their simplicity, pretty efficient. The Research Institute of Computer Science took note as well, to the point that they effectively utilized the computer in order to identify malware.
So, before we go into the explanation, allow me to clarify something: I may be a tech writer, but robotics is a field that I’m not very well-versed in. Hence, my explanations on the matter at hand may be lacking, and I encourage all interested readers to do their research as well. At any rate, our batch of researchers created a custom Raspberry Pi model that scanned other devices with an oscilloscope and H-Field probe. These are devices that can very effectively identify and monitor electromagnetic waves and their activity. Devices running malware emit EMWs of differing frequencies, thus allowing the research team to not only discern infected devices, but also specifically point out what form of malware they’re running.
H/T: TH.
Read next: Researchers hint consumers on how they can protect themselves from cyber security threats