A researcher named Kris Kaspersky claims to have found a way to hack into any computer with an Intel processor at its core, independent of the operating system running on the system. Kaspersky claims to have found a way for an attacker to take control of an Intel-based system by using JavaScript and TCP/IP.
For those of you who would like the technical details, here is the basic rundown. Many processors contain bugs, known as errata, which can be exploited using certain instruction sequences and knowledge of how Java compilers work, allowing an attacker to take control of the compiler. As of now, there are plenty of bugs in Intel processors, though they are not noticeable since they do not affect processing abilities, they are a major security risk nonetheless. While some may just crash the system or give full control of the system, some others may attack just Vista, disabling all security restrictions. Manufacturers (like Intel and AMD) try to patch these bugs by providing solutions in the BIOS but sometimes vendors do not implement the latest BIOS, making the system vulnerable. Kaspersky, who opened this can of worms, has promised to tell all but at his terms. These terms are the stage and the nature of the revelation.
For those of you who would like the technical details, here is the basic rundown. Many processors contain bugs, known as errata, which can be exploited using certain instruction sequences and knowledge of how Java compilers work, allowing an attacker to take control of the compiler. As of now, there are plenty of bugs in Intel processors, though they are not noticeable since they do not affect processing abilities, they are a major security risk nonetheless. While some may just crash the system or give full control of the system, some others may attack just Vista, disabling all security restrictions. Manufacturers (like Intel and AMD) try to patch these bugs by providing solutions in the BIOS but sometimes vendors do not implement the latest BIOS, making the system vulnerable. Kaspersky, who opened this can of worms, has promised to tell all but at his terms. These terms are the stage and the nature of the revelation.
Stage:
Hack in the box security conference at Kuala Lumpur
Time:
October
Nature of revelation:
An attack on Intel based computers running the latest patched versions of Windows (XP,Vista,Server 2003,Server 2008), Linux and BSD at the conference and public distribution of the attack code. Well for those of you running Intel computers here's something for you to watch out for in the future
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