{"id":40885,"date":"2017-10-12T12:28:01","date_gmt":"2017-10-12T19:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=40885"},"modified":"2017-10-12T12:28:01","modified_gmt":"2017-10-12T19:28:01","slug":"can-hacked-world-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/can-hacked-world-around\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you be hacked by the world around you?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nYou\u2019ve probably been told it\u2019s dangerous to open unexpected attachment files in your email \u2013 just like you shouldn\u2019t open suspicious packages in your mailbox. But have you been warned against scanning unknown QR codes or just taking a picture with your phone? New research suggests that cyberattackers could exploit cameras and sensors in phones and other devices.<\/p>\n

As someone who researches\u00a03-D modeling<\/a>, including\u00a0assessing 3-D printed objects<\/a>\u00a0to be sure they meet quality standards, I\u2019m aware of being vulnerable to methods of storing malicious computer code in the physical world. Our group\u2019s work is in the laboratory, and has not yet encountered malware hidden in 3-D printing instructions or encoded in the structure of an item being scanned. But we\u2019re preparing for that possibility.<\/p>\n

At the moment, it\u2019s not very likely for us: An attacker would need very specialized knowledge about our system\u2019s functions to succeed in attacking it. But the day is coming when intrusions can happen through normal communications with or sensing performed by a computer or smartphone. Product designers and users alike need to be aware of the risks.<\/p>\n

Transmitting infection<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In order for a device to become infected or compromised, the nefarious party has to figure out some way to get the computer to store or process the malware. The\u00a0human at the keyboard<\/a>\u00a0has been a common target. An attacker might send an email telling the user that he or she has won the lottery or is going to be in trouble for not responding to a work supervisor. In other cases, a virus is designed to be unwittingly triggered by routine software activities.<\/p>\n

Researchers at the University of Washington tested another possibility recently,\u00a0embedding a computer virus in DNA<\/a>. The good news is that most computers can\u2019t catch an electronic virus from bad software \u2013 called malware \u2013 embedded in a biological one. The\u00a0DNA infection<\/a>\u00a0was a test of the concept of attacking a computer equipped to read\u00a0digital data stored in DNA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Similarly, when our team scans a 3-D printed object, we are both storing and processing the data from the imagery that we collect. If an attacker analyzed how we do this, they could \u2013 perhaps \u2013 identify a step in our process that would be vulnerable to a compromised or corrupted piece of data. Then, they would have to design an object for us to scan that would cause us to receive these data.
\n

\"\"

A 3-D scanning rig in our lab. Jeremy Straub<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Closer to home, when you scan a\u00a0QR code<\/a>, your computer or phone processes the data in the code and takes some action \u2013 perhaps sending an email or going to a specified URL. An attacker could find a bug in a code-reader app that allows certain precisely formatted text to be executed instead of just scanned and processed. Or there could be\u00a0something designed to harm your phone<\/a>\u00a0waiting at the target website.<\/p>\n

Imprecision as protection<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The good news is that most sensors have less precision than DNA sequencers. For instance, two mobile phone cameras pointed at the same subject will collect somewhat different information, based on lighting, camera position and how closely it\u2019s zoomed in. Even small variations could render encoded malware inoperable, because the sensed data would not always be accurate enough to translate into working software. So it\u2019s unlikely that a person\u2019s phone would be hacked just by taking a photo of something.<\/p>\n

But some systems, like QR code readers, include methods for correcting anomalies in sensed data. And when the sensing environment is highly controlled, like with our\u00a0recent work to assess 3-D printing<\/a>, it is easier for an attacker to affect the sensor readings more predictably.<\/p>\n

What is perhaps most problematic is the ability for sensing to provide a gateway into systems that are otherwise secure and difficult to attack. For example, to prevent the infection of our 3-D printing quality sensing system by a conventional attack, we\u00a0proposed<\/a>\u00a0placing it on another computer, one disconnected from the internet and other sources of potential cyberattacks. But the system still must scan the 3-D printed object. A maliciously designed object could be a way to attack this otherwise disconnected system.<\/p>\n

Screening for prevention<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Many software developers don\u2019t yet think about the potential for hackers to manipulate sensed data. But in 2011, Iranian government hackers were able to\u00a0capture a U.S. spy drone<\/a>\u00a0in just this way. Programmers and computer administrators must ensure that sensed data are screened before processing, and handled securely, to prevent unexpected hijacking.<\/p>\n

In addition to developing secure software, another type of system can help: An\u00a0intrusion detection system<\/a>\u00a0can look for common attacks, unusual behavior or even when things that are expected to happen don\u2019t. They\u2019re not perfect, of course, at times\u00a0failing to detect attacks<\/a>\u00a0and at others\u00a0misidentifing legitimate activities as attacks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Computer devices that both sense and modify the environment are becoming more common \u2013 in manufacturing robots, drones and self-driving cars, among many other examples. As that happens, the potential for attacks to include both physical and electronic elements grows significantly. Attackers may find it very attractive to embed malicious software in the physical world, just waiting for unsuspecting people to scan it with a smartphone or a more specialized device. Hidden in plain sight, the malicious software becomes a sort of \u201csleeper agent\u201d that can avoid detection until it reaches its target \u2013 perhaps deep inside a secure government building, bank or hospital.<\/p>\n

Author Bio: <\/strong>Jeremy Strau is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at North Dakota State University<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve probably been told it\u2019s dangerous to open unexpected attachment files in your email \u2013 just like you shouldn\u2019t open suspicious packages in your mailbox. But have you been warned against scanning unknown QR codes or just taking a picture with your phone? New research suggests that cyberattackers could exploit cameras and sensors in phones […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":40886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[136924],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-40885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-cyberattackers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCan you be hacked by the world around you? - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/can-hacked-world-around\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can you be hacked by the world around you? - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You\u2019ve probably been told it\u2019s dangerous to open unexpected attachment files in your email \u2013 just like you shouldn\u2019t open suspicious packages in your mailbox. 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