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Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard
A new attack tool that can compromise locked computers will leave you wishing you could take your machine with you everywhere you go.
Dubbed PoisonTap, the tool consists of a Raspberry Pi Zero controller with a USB or Thunderbolt plug, loaded with open source software. All in all, this setup can be achieved by anyone who has $5 to spare.
What is PoisonTap capable of, you ask?
Plugged into a locked/password protected computer, it can hijack all Internet traffic from the machine, open the internal router to the attacker, collect HTTP cookies and sessions from web browsers, install a web-based backdoor in HTTP cache for hundreds of thousands of domains, install a backdoor into the machine that does not depend on the device being plugged in, and more. It is capable of compromising Macs and PCs running Windows.
There is also a YouTube video (5m22s).
Source: https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2016/11/17/poisontap-compromise-locked-computers/
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Saturday November 19 2016, @09:15PM
If someone has physical access to a running machine, they can dump your entire disk unencrypted and install all manner of backdoors and keyloggers.
So yeah, this attack is kind of pointless.
It does bring up an interesting point though: should machines drop disk/RAM decryption while the machine is locked? It's nontrivial, but it's possible. It'd also be rather tedious typing a long LUKS password every time to log in. Perhaps a better solution would be to disable all (new?) peripherals except the keyboard during screen lock.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 2) by rob_on_earth on Monday November 21 2016, @11:39AM
there have been numerous examples of physical machines sporting a USB port in public places. Cash machines, cash registers, ATMs, voting systems, doctors and hospital computers that patient is left alone with.
The fun ones are where the manufacturer hides the USB port but its still there. I am sure there was a series of attacks where ATMs were drilled to expose the port.