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petak, 04.11.2011.

Apple Laptop Battery life


Laptop battery is smarter than it seems. And if a hacker as a security researcher Charlie Miller puts his hands in digital form that could be more damaging than it looks, too.


Black Hat security conference in August, Miller plans to present and propose a solution for a new generation of Apple laptops attack that exploits a security weakness in their study of small: the chips that control their batteries.


Modern laptop batteries contain a microprocessor that controls the power level of the machine, allowing the operating system and battery charger to check and respond accordingly. This means that the smart lithium-ion batteries can know when to stop the load when the computer is off, and able to regulate their own heat for safety.


When Miller discussed some of these batteries for MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Buenos, however, found a disturbing vulnerability. Batteries "chips come with default passwords, so anyone who discovers the password and learn how to control the chip" can divert the firmware to do what the attacker wants. This includes permanently damage the batteries at will, and can afford more wicked tricks like the system with hidden malware infects your computer, no matter how many times you reinstall the software or it can cause overheating of the battery, s' ignite or explode. "These batteries are not designed with the idea that people mess with them," said Miller. "What I show is that you can use to do something really bad."


Miller discovered the two passwords used to access and change the batteries from Apple is the separation and analysis of a software update Apple has implemented since 2009 to resolve an issue with A1185 batteries. Using these keys, was soon able to reverse engineer the chip firmware and because I wanted to give lectures in the operating system and charger, or even completely rewrite the orders of the firmware.


From there, zapping the battery is no longer recognized by the computer becomes trivial: in fact, Miller definitely "walls" of the battery only in September as part of his violin. (They cost about $ 130 to replace.) More interesting from the standpoint of the criminal, he suggests, could be the installation of on-chip persistent malware that infects the rest of the team to steal data, control of their functions, or cause it to crash. Few managers can think to check the source of the firmware of the battery of this infection, and if not discovered the chip could reinfect the computer again and again.


"You can put an entire hard disk, reinstall the software, reset the BIOS, and each time ended reattack and life. There would be no way to detect and remove more of the batteries." Said Miller.


The attack will have to find another vulnerability in the interface between the chip and the operating system. However, Miller says there is not much of a barrier. "Presumably, Apple has never seen as an attack vector, so it is very likely to be vulnerable."


And the really scary prospect that remote attacker detonated a Dell Inspiron 1501 Battery? Miller did not try the trick violent, but he believes it might be possible. "I work outside my home, so it was not super ready to explode here," he said.


In fact, the batteries have looked at other measures to protect against the explosion of a fuse containing alloy that melts at high temperatures to break the circuit and avoid the additional burden. But Miller, who worked for the National Security Agency and then all the way to the iPhone for virtual worlds, says it is still possible. "You read stories of batteries in electronic devices that blow without any interference," he said. "If you have all this control is likely to be done."


Miller, now a researcher at Accuvant board is not the first to explore the danger of battery explosion caused by hackers. Barnaby Jack, a researcher with McAfee antivirus giant says it has worked on the problem in 2009, but said "the bank when the search does not result in an ion-battery fire." Jack was also able to control the capacity of both batteries and the "brick", but does not publish his work.


Miller said he has received messages from many other researchers asking him not to proceed with the work of the Pavilion dv6000 Battery, it can be very dangerous. However, Miller has worked to solve problems is exposure. At the Black Hat plans to launch a tool for users of Apple called "Caulkgun" password that changes the firmware of the battery on a random string, avoiding the default password of attack used. Miller also sent to Apple and Texas Instruments his research to be aware of the vulnerability. I contacted Apple to comment, but have not yet received a response from the company.


The implementation of Miller "Caulkgun" excludes any other use of vulnerabilities hackers found. But also to avoid the default password to use the battery for Apple to implement their own updates and corrections. Those who fear the possibility of charging a portion of seized chemicals in the womb might consider a compromise.


"No one thought of it as a safe limit," says Miller. "It's hard to meet someone who could do something with that."

04.11.2011. u 04:54 • 0 Komentara • Print • # • ^

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