Researchers predict hardware-specific malware
Malware and virus writers could begin to target specific hardware, according to researchers, who claim to have discovered a way of remotely identifying individual chips and their weaknesses.
Most computer attacks have conventionally targeted computers according to their operating systems – whether it is Windows or, more rarely, Linux or Apple's Mac OS.
However, researchers at Paris's Ecole Superiore d'Informatique, Electronique, Automatique believe that - if they know what hardware is being use - hackers could launch highly targeted attacks based on processors. “In this paper, we consider a different approach and show on a technical basis how easily malware can recognise and target systems selectively, according to the onboard processor chip,” wrote Anthony Desnos and co-authors in their "Processor-Dependent Malware... and codes" report.
