Researchers at Ben-Gurion University in Israel have developed a way to steal data off of someone’s hard drive by infecting the desired computer with malware and reading data through the blinking LED light that indicates hard drive activity. In their testing, researchers used a drone camera that would fly to the window of the office where the computer was infected. Once at the window, the drone can capture the blinking LEDs, which can blink up to 6,000 times per second. This allows the desired hacker to transmit data very fast over a long distance. Being able to infiltrate a system that is not on the internet is a major concern for highly sensitive systems that utilize the “air gap.” The “air gap” is sometimes seen as an impenetrable defense against highly sensitive systems which are not connected to the internet. By using the computer’s LED light it has the potential for hackers to use a stealthier, higher-bandwidth and longer distance method to infiltrating an air-gapped computer. The researchers believe that the easiest way to circumvent this is by taping the LED light or by keeping highly sensitive systems away from windows.
Article – https://www.wired.com/2017/02/malware-sends-stolen-data-drone-just-pcs-blinking-led/
Glad you posted this Ioannis. I saw this earlier this week. It’s an interesting concept, but I imagine this would be really difficult to coordinate. Air-gapped systems also usually have very high physical security controls and are located in rooms with no windows or doors. This is a good reminder of the importance of these controls. The article mentions keeping air-gapped machines in secure rooms away from windows, placing film over a building’s glass designed to mask light flashes, or even putting a piece of tape over the LED. Most data centers I’ve visited are behind closed doors in rooms with no windows.
This is the reason it makes perfect sense to place a data center away from see-through windows locations. Hackers will not hesitate to go above and beyond to come up with new ways to steal people’s information every chance they get. IT security professionals and researchers should think the same. Researchers at Ben-Gurion University exemplify good effort to always stay on-step ahead of the bad guys. Lastly, this represents a good example where physical security must be in good blend with IT infrastructure.