When it comes to hacking, intelligence comes to mind, vulnerabilities and malware. However, the researchers An Cui (Ang Cui) and Rick Housley (Rick Housley) have developed a physical tool that allows you to hack the device with one hand only.

Presented at the conference REcon method of hacking the processor is based on the creation of impulse noise. By interrupting normal activity with precisely verified intervals, you can bypass the Safe Boot mode, which protects the system from running malicious code, experts explained..

Researchers have been working on such attacks for several decades, but they usually require physical access to computer components. The method developed by Cui and Hausley is non-invasive. "You do not need to touch the device, and after you there will be no physical traces. At the level of electromagnetic pulses, there is no data exchange, so the attack will go unnoticed by the firewall, "explained Tsui.

Lab equipment for creating electromagnetic pulses costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, so for the attack, researchers collected their own (for $ 350), using the already available components and a 3D printer.

Impulse noise - a short-time power surge in a network with an amplitude of more than 4000-6000 V. Such an electromagnetic disturbance can be in the form of either a single pulse or a sequence or a burst.

Safe Boot is a security standard developed by the computer industry to ensure that the computer uses only trusted software at boot time.