karl
June 3rd, 2013, 04:09 PM
A modified mobile phone charger could be used to hack Apple devices in under a minute, researchers will claim at a conference next month.
Researchers from Georgia Tech claim that a readily available 3” circuit board, easily concealed in a docking station or battery, could be used to exploit weaknesses in mobile security with “alarming ease”. They claimed that on a limited budget and with little time, they had developed an ‘exploit’ that could easily attack any Apple iOS device within a minute.
In a summary of their talk to be given at the Black Hat conference next, month, the three researchers say “In this presentation, we demonstrate how an iOS device can be compromised within one minute of being plugged into a malicious charger. We first examine Apple’s existing security mechanisms to protect against arbitrary software installation, then describe how USB capabilities can be leveraged to bypass these defense mechanisms. To ensure persistence of the resulting infection, we show how an attacker can hide their software in the same way Apple hides its own built-in applications.”
Full story here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/10096352/Charger-can-hack-Apple-devices-with-alarming-ease-researchers-claim.html
Researchers from Georgia Tech claim that a readily available 3” circuit board, easily concealed in a docking station or battery, could be used to exploit weaknesses in mobile security with “alarming ease”. They claimed that on a limited budget and with little time, they had developed an ‘exploit’ that could easily attack any Apple iOS device within a minute.
In a summary of their talk to be given at the Black Hat conference next, month, the three researchers say “In this presentation, we demonstrate how an iOS device can be compromised within one minute of being plugged into a malicious charger. We first examine Apple’s existing security mechanisms to protect against arbitrary software installation, then describe how USB capabilities can be leveraged to bypass these defense mechanisms. To ensure persistence of the resulting infection, we show how an attacker can hide their software in the same way Apple hides its own built-in applications.”
Full story here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/10096352/Charger-can-hack-Apple-devices-with-alarming-ease-researchers-claim.html