If i remember it use to be possible for viruses to infect the BIOS but that got fixed long ago.
Fix no, possible to this day, yes.
Malware can be dangerous if it is designed for such, from bios erasers, bios editors, bios embedding/flashers, overclockers/underclockers "dangerous ones" and many others.
I know that list expands more, but those are some that target motherboards and hardware. Also one to add, say you motherboard has a ACPI chipset that allows RPM control of fans, there is more doubt there is malware that can modify that as well, therefore overheating system.
Malware can be dangerous if it is designed for such, from bios erasers, bios editors, bios embedding/flashers, overclockers/underclockers "dangerous ones" and many others.
I know that list expands more, but those are some that target motherboards and hardware. Also one to add, say you motherboard has a ACPI chipset that allows RPM control of fans, there is more doubt there is malware that can modify that as well, therefore overheating system.
Well, that is interesting. A virus that can destroy your CPU and overheat your system.
Well, that is interesting. A virus that can destroy your CPU and overheat your system.
Horrifically uncommon to the point of not (technically) existing for modern systems.
You would need to design it specifically for the hardware.
It's possible, but I can say with 101% certainty that you will never see a piece of malware that does this in your lifetime, they are so uncommon--unless you actively went out looking for one. Even then though, you'd be unlikely to get anything.
People tend not to flash their BIOS very often (or at all), so it's not a particularly common attack vector. The writers of computer viruses also aren't out to destroy your computer. They want to create botnets that they can sell access to or steal information that they can sell. There's no money in simply messing up a person's computer.
People tend not to flash their BIOS very often (or at all), so it's not a particularly common attack vector. The writers of computer viruses also aren't out to destroy your computer. They want to create botnets that they can sell access to or steal information that they can sell. There's no money in simply messing up a person's computer.
Pretty much.
Purely destructive malware that isn't trying to sell you/your information or scam something pretty much all but died out in the early 2000s.
I've never heard of "lots of hardware" being shipped with malware.
Unless you are talking about malware being on prebuilt systems on the pre-loaded OS/files, which happens but only very rarely.
Researched it a couple months ago, there was a story on it on a famous australian news type show, today tonight. I also found multiple sources online. I am sure if you do a google search you will dig something up. But it is basically people getting access to hardware before it is put on the shelves, and putting cleverly coded malware on the hard drive for example, which you cannot format or find. Some infect motherboards. It has been going on for a few years according to my research.
But it isn't a big problem, like every second machine is infected with that type of malware, but its out there.
Researched it a couple months ago, there was a story on it on a famous australian news type show, today tonight. I also found multiple sources online. I am sure if you do a google search you will dig something up. But it is basically people getting access to hardware before it is put on the shelves, and putting cleverly coded malware on the hard drive for example, which you cannot format or find. Some infect motherboards. It has been going on for a few years according to my research.
Research like this has sources you can provide.
Since you provide none: it is bogus nonsense.
But it isn't a big problem, like every second machine is infected with that type of malware, but its out there.
Every other machine possessing malware apparently hard-coded into the hardware is what I would call "a big problem"... Like one of the biggest problems for PC manufacturers that ever happened or ever will happen within the history of computers. That is a hugely significant problem.......... If it were true.
....But it isn't true. It is nonsense.
A small problem would be like 1/million PCs infected. A minor problem would be 1/100,000.
A big problem would be 1/10,000. A large problem 1/1000. An extremely devastating problem would be 1/100.
You're saying that 1/2 computers are infected... That is on the level of complete and utter catastrophe.
It is basically the PC apocalypse.......
So why isn't this being reported all over the world and a solution being put into place by world leaders?
Oh that's right.... because it is nonsense.
Researched it a couple months ago, there was a story on it on a famous australian news type show, today tonight. I also found multiple sources online. I am sure if you do a google search you will dig something up. But it is basically people getting access to hardware before it is put on the shelves, and putting cleverly coded malware on the hard drive for example, which you cannot format or find. Some infect motherboards. It has been going on for a few years according to my research.
But it isn't a big problem, like every second machine is infected with that type of malware, but its out there.
Again, source please?
This would be a huge issue, and since I have not heard of it nor can I find anything on it, there is absolutely nothing to say this is true.
On that note:
But it is basically people getting access to hardware before it is put on the shelves, and putting cleverly coded malware on the hard drive for example, which you cannot format or find. Some infect motherboards. It has been going on for a few years according to my research.
This is quite literally 100% impossible.
Firmware and BIOSes are closed source. There is no way anyone would be able to do this unless they literally worked for the company making the hardware, and in which case, they would be caught VERY quickly.
Even then, things like hard drives and other hardware that aren't the mobo have firmware that is quite literally the exact size, or barely any bigger than it's internal memory, so slipping in non-signed code or code that isn't supposed to be there would be next to impossible.
I also found multiple sources online. I am sure if you do a google search you will dig something up.
So why isn't this being reported all over the world and a solution being put into place by world leaders?
Oh that's right.... because it is nonsense.
The only thing I've found is chinese backdoors being put in US military hardware chips that are made in china.
But this stuff has yet to be proven to be dangerous or that it can even work (hint: hardware cannot interface directly with other hardware in that manner, so most of it does not work at all unless someone has physical access to the machine) and most of it is a non-issue in the first place.
Anything about consumer hardware, motherboards, or actual malware I can't find anything on and it would be known about very quickly.
Researched it a couple months ago, there was a story on it on a famous australian news type show, today tonight. I also found multiple sources online. I am sure if you do a google search you will dig something up. But it is basically people getting access to hardware before it is put on the shelves, and putting cleverly coded malware on the hard drive for example, which you cannot format or find. Some infect motherboards. It has been going on for a few years according to my research.
But it isn't a big problem, like every second machine is infected with that type of malware, but its out there.
today tonight? i wouldn't trust them if they said the sky was blue.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
< Insert a massive, screaming signature about ponies / achievements I have / the specs of my computer / the suggestions I support / the mods I use / what sort of person I am according to an online test here. >
While we're at it the government hotwires your brain while you're in the womb in order to make you buy consumer goods from companies that are bribing them.
Or no, people could just get that malware the normal way and it didn't come with the motherboard.
Anyway this has been asked.. quite a few times before actually. The answer is: it's possible, but not practical and probably about as likely as winning the lottery. There's just no point to attacking the bios and would require severe system compromise to access it. Not to mention if something stops it overwriting it would just flat out wreck the computer and not even succeed as any kind of thievery malware.
If they just want to jack your PC up there are many easier ways than the BIOS.
But it is basically people getting access to hardware before it is put on the shelves, and putting cleverly coded malware on the hard drive for example, which you cannot format or find. Some infect motherboards. It has been going on for a few years according to my research.
Here's the problem: If you can't format or find it, then how does it run? If the OS can't see it, then it's not running. If it runs outside of the OS, then it has even more problems.
Being outside of the OS is like being in a foreign nation with a strange culture and language that you don't understand. Sure, you can sort of see what the OS and the programs inside it are doing by digging around in memory, but making heads or tails of anything you manage to scrape will be incredibly difficult. Stealing significant data and phoning it back to a server without touching the OS would be quite a feat.
Fix no, possible to this day, yes.
Malware can be dangerous if it is designed for such, from bios erasers, bios editors, bios embedding/flashers, overclockers/underclockers "dangerous ones" and many others.
I know that list expands more, but those are some that target motherboards and hardware. Also one to add, say you motherboard has a ACPI chipset that allows RPM control of fans, there is more doubt there is malware that can modify that as well, therefore overheating system.
Well, that is interesting. A virus that can destroy your CPU and overheat your system.
You would need to design it specifically for the hardware.
It's possible, but I can say with 101% certainty that you will never see a piece of malware that does this in your lifetime, they are so uncommon--unless you actively went out looking for one. Even then though, you'd be unlikely to get anything.
I've never heard of "lots of hardware" being shipped with malware.
Unless you are talking about malware being on prebuilt systems on the pre-loaded OS/files, which happens but only very rarely.
Purely destructive malware that isn't trying to sell you/your information or scam something pretty much all but died out in the early 2000s.
Yeah, what happened to malware that was destructive?
People realized that money was more fun than destroying things.
Researched it a couple months ago, there was a story on it on a famous australian news type show, today tonight. I also found multiple sources online. I am sure if you do a google search you will dig something up. But it is basically people getting access to hardware before it is put on the shelves, and putting cleverly coded malware on the hard drive for example, which you cannot format or find. Some infect motherboards. It has been going on for a few years according to my research.
But it isn't a big problem, like every second machine is infected with that type of malware, but its out there.
Research like this has sources you can provide.
Since you provide none: it is bogus nonsense.
Every other machine possessing malware apparently hard-coded into the hardware is what I would call "a big problem"... Like one of the biggest problems for PC manufacturers that ever happened or ever will happen within the history of computers. That is a hugely significant problem.......... If it were true.
....But it isn't true. It is nonsense.
A small problem would be like 1/million PCs infected. A minor problem would be 1/100,000.
A big problem would be 1/10,000. A large problem 1/1000. An extremely devastating problem would be 1/100.
You're saying that 1/2 computers are infected... That is on the level of complete and utter catastrophe.
It is basically the PC apocalypse.......
So why isn't this being reported all over the world and a solution being put into place by world leaders?
Oh that's right.... because it is nonsense.
This would be a huge issue, and since I have not heard of it nor can I find anything on it, there is absolutely nothing to say this is true.
On that note:
This is quite literally 100% impossible.
Firmware and BIOSes are closed source. There is no way anyone would be able to do this unless they literally worked for the company making the hardware, and in which case, they would be caught VERY quickly.
Even then, things like hard drives and other hardware that aren't the mobo have firmware that is quite literally the exact size, or barely any bigger than it's internal memory, so slipping in non-signed code or code that isn't supposed to be there would be next to impossible.
Nothing, actually.
The only thing I've found is chinese backdoors being put in US military hardware chips that are made in china.
But this stuff has yet to be proven to be dangerous or that it can even work (hint: hardware cannot interface directly with other hardware in that manner, so most of it does not work at all unless someone has physical access to the machine) and most of it is a non-issue in the first place.
Anything about consumer hardware, motherboards, or actual malware I can't find anything on and it would be known about very quickly.
today tonight? i wouldn't trust them if they said the sky was blue.
"news type" is close. complete bs tabloid is better
Samsung Galaxy S3 (Jellybean Omega ROM) - 4x3tb QNAP NAS
Or no, people could just get that malware the normal way and it didn't come with the motherboard.
Anyway this has been asked.. quite a few times before actually. The answer is: it's possible, but not practical and probably about as likely as winning the lottery. There's just no point to attacking the bios and would require severe system compromise to access it. Not to mention if something stops it overwriting it would just flat out wreck the computer and not even succeed as any kind of thievery malware.
If they just want to jack your PC up there are many easier ways than the BIOS.
Here's the problem: If you can't format or find it, then how does it run? If the OS can't see it, then it's not running. If it runs outside of the OS, then it has even more problems.
Being outside of the OS is like being in a foreign nation with a strange culture and language that you don't understand. Sure, you can sort of see what the OS and the programs inside it are doing by digging around in memory, but making heads or tails of anything you manage to scrape will be incredibly difficult. Stealing significant data and phoning it back to a server without touching the OS would be quite a feat.