QUOTE
Windows 8 May Prompt Malware Attacks on Hardware, McAfee Predicts
By Tim Greene, NetworkWorld Dec 30, 2011 3:04 am
Security features in Windows 8 will discourage operating-system attacks and drive hackers to develop malware that compromises hardware directly, according to McAfee's security predictions for 2012.
"Advances in the Windows 8 bootloader security feature have already caused researchers to show how they can be subverted through legacy BIOS," McAfee says in its "2012 Threats Predictions, "meanwhile, the product has not even been fully released yet."
At the same time Intel is developing its unified extensible firmware interface that is meant to enforce secure booting, which will further prod attackers into designing malware that evades these new protections, the report says.
"We will keenly watch how attackers use these low-level functions for botnet control, perhaps migrating their control functions into graphics processor functions, the BIOS, or the master boot record," the report says. "In spite of our efforts to thwart their ambitions, attackers clearly see the value and power of attacking hardware and moving outside of traditional operating-system attacks."
Attacks on mobile devices will also gain more attention from adversaries as the devices are used more to conduct financial transactions and become repositories of valuable information, McAfee says.
Detailed:
http://www.pcworld.c....html#tk.hp_new
By Tim Greene, NetworkWorld Dec 30, 2011 3:04 am
Security features in Windows 8 will discourage operating-system attacks and drive hackers to develop malware that compromises hardware directly, according to McAfee's security predictions for 2012.
"Advances in the Windows 8 bootloader security feature have already caused researchers to show how they can be subverted through legacy BIOS," McAfee says in its "2012 Threats Predictions, "meanwhile, the product has not even been fully released yet."
At the same time Intel is developing its unified extensible firmware interface that is meant to enforce secure booting, which will further prod attackers into designing malware that evades these new protections, the report says.
"We will keenly watch how attackers use these low-level functions for botnet control, perhaps migrating their control functions into graphics processor functions, the BIOS, or the master boot record," the report says. "In spite of our efforts to thwart their ambitions, attackers clearly see the value and power of attacking hardware and moving outside of traditional operating-system attacks."
Attacks on mobile devices will also gain more attention from adversaries as the devices are used more to conduct financial transactions and become repositories of valuable information, McAfee says.
Detailed:
http://www.pcworld.c....html#tk.hp_new
