Questions tagged [hardware]
For attacks against, or best practices for physical components of an Information Technology system. It can consist of network equipment, servers, CPUs, hardware security module, smartcards, etc. When using this tag, also include an additional tag for the specific type of hardware.
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Is there an equivalent to passkeys but to prevent cookie stealing?
Passkeys prevent phishing, no one can make you login remotely (without exploits) and if they are hardware based and never leave the hardware, them even exploits might have a hard time getting them.
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How to recycle dead Google Pixel laptop?
I have old Google Pixel laptop that is not working anymore. I cannot charge it and it would not start.
I have a number of apps installed there, linked to my current account (for example, social media ...
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"PUF CRPs authentication requires trust in manufacturer since it's him who performs the storage of CRPs"....?
"PUF CRPs authentication requires trust in manufacturer since it's him who performs the storage of CRPs".
So does it mean that we have to trust manufacturer, because he could replace the ...
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Laser pulse/injection attacks, Xray inspection, Test-based(like JTAG scan chain) attacks, Microprobing attacks... are these invasive or non-invasive?
Laser pulse/injection attacks, Xray inspection, Test-based(like JTAG scan chain) attacks, Microprobing attacks... are these invasive or non-invasive?
Just curiosity. I don't know how to categorize.
My ...
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Is PUF Challenge-Response Authentication applied on every power-up event? [closed]
Are PUFs used, EVERY time we power on the computer to verify that nothing has been tampered with (by using CRP authentication)?
Which element performs this authentication? (bios, secureboot, I don't ...
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How to update BIOS before BIOS infected Host reinfects BIOS?
I learned about the BIOS being able to be written to by malware. It reminded me I have a used laptop that performs noticeably slower than any comparable devices, so I went ahead an downloaded BIOS ...
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Since JTAG can be authenticated and encrypted, which key is used? I read that Secure Boot is used, but what is the key?
Since JTAG can be authenticated and encrypted, which key is used? I read that Secure Boot is used, but what is the key? Me, owner of this laptop, how can I know the key to use to access my own laptop ...
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Salvageable computer parts after being hacked [duplicate]
(edited)
My question main is much pretty where can malware hide after it's infected your computer and what parts should I keep and throw away to make sure the infection no longer spreads. Does factory ...
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EEPROM with HDD calibration data
I understand that in a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) there is EEPROM which stores calibration data. This is not directly accessible by any ring-3 (usermode) or ring-0 (kernel mode) programs.
I was curious as ...
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Choosing laptop brand for company
Recently we have been wondering whether it makes a difference (from a security and privacy perspective) what brand laptops should be used in our company. I have heard wild stories about backdoors ...
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Can a computer peripheral (keyboard) be more sophisticated than meets the eye and steal data? [duplicate]
There are lots of mechanical keyboards out on the market now. When you buy one from a known name it's likely there's nothing nefarious going on. But no name peripherals have flooded the market. Cheap ...
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Minimizing trust assumptions in Messaging Protocols
As I was listening to an interview yesterday, the journalist claimed that his Signal communications were being spied on by the NSA. Whether to believe him or not is subjective. Still, it is an ...
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Does emulation/software virtualization provide more isolation/security vs hardware virtualization?
From my understanding:
I can emulate many different architectures and systems with qemu as a user(mode) process.
There is separate user address space per process.
If a malicious process were to ...
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How is the authenticity and integrity of the various chips inside laptops and mobile phones ensured by their vendors?
Modern laptops and mobile phone platforms are built around a main, beefy SoC, which generally supports Secure Boot for its firmware and also has a unique hardware identity that is used to attest to a ...
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Is hardware linked between different operating systems installed in same computer?
I know the safest bet If I want to remain anonymous is having 2 separate computers, but I was curious if having 2 OS in different hard drives (both encrypted) but on same computer the same? Is the ...
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How can we verify the security of a device? [duplicate]
I've recently been experiencing a situation as follows:
How can I understand the IO of an unknown device?
Say, for example, I am gifted a bluetooth speaker. How can I understand its potential for ...
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Reliably destroy all information on magnetic disk through digital medium
In a scenario where a person wants to give away their device (magnetic disk included), leaving the disk usable for the receiver, how might that person go about destroying ALL data (except firmware) on ...
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Standards for Secure Products
I am interested in standardizations for secure design and development of products, especially towards operational technology / IoT / ICS. My understanding of information security management systems ...
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Why are Yubico Yubikeys limited to 32 OATH accounts? [closed]
Is the 32 OATH QR code account limit on Yubikeys due to a storage constraint?
Because the Yubikey 5 series has been out for a few years now it'd be amazing if there is a new version released soon with ...
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Can mobile hardware have backdoor access to camera, microphone that bypasses operating system?
I found out about AOSP variants such as Calyx, Graphene, etc. They promise increased security. I want to know if hardware backdoors can allow access to the camera, microphone, etc. and subsequently ...
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Which algorithm does CryptGenRandom use on my laptop?
I have an Ideapad Gaming laptop by Lenovo, with an Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-10300H processor. On this laptop I have Windows 10 installed. To generate random numbers, I use the CryptGenRandom function. ...
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Bitlocker TPM + PIN vs password without TPM [duplicate]
I keep reading how it's best to use Bitlocker's full disk encryption with a TPM + PIN instead of just a passphrase twithout a TPM but I've been wondering why.
Assuming that a very strong password is ...
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Will it ever be possible to functionally get the encrypted data off of an iphone in recovery mode?
Apparently the data encrypts until the passcode is entered, but my phone (close to 3,500 recordings of my original music) won't boot up. I dropped it and it went into a boot loop then went into ...
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Is there any risk to having 2 devices simultaneously connected to the same display?
I have two devices. One of them is my personal desktop machine, and the other one is my work laptop which I do not own and have very little control over.
With the security of the sector I work in, I ...
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Is a responsible disclosure for hardware-based vulnerabilities even possible?
In the last decade side-channel attacks like fault injection attacks (e.g., voltage glitching attacks) have been used to bypass JTAG locks or read-out memory protections. Such vulnerabilities might ...
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SD card with the read only switch, can the SD card reader still get viruses?
Due to security reasons, I need an USB that has the switch to set it physically read only, because in this way I can be 100 % sure that it can't get infected when I connect it to an infected device.
I ...
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Security by using USB NIC, USB to SATA adapter, etc
After reading libreboot FAQ i have some questions about USB 2.0 bus. There it is strongly recommended to use usb devices - USB network card and USB to SATA adapter (to connect HDD or SSD with it). The ...
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Simple setups for side-channel analysis
I'd like to test cryptographic implementations in FPGA against power analysis. Not being all that handy with hardware and such, I'm looking for an easy solution. What I've come across thus far:
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How exactly are hidraw 'Billboard' devices interrogated?
I have some USBHub ( Ethernet + HDMI + USB + VGA). When it doesn't have anything connected it exposes to Linux operating system device:
'hiddev0, hidraw1'
in opposite to HID mouse:
which is visible as ...
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How does a validity check on a stylus-made signature compare to a validity check for a pen-made signature
In the old days, when signatures were used to sign cheques, there were people specialized in how to determine whether a signature came from a particular person or from a different person (forger).
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Rowhammer mitigations in current hardware and software
I've been looking into rowhammer attacks and mitigations and there are two (what seem to be) mitigations that I've seen that are actually implemented in currently available hardware and software, but ...
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Can the microsoft basic optical mouse be modified to contain spyware or a keylogger if the attacker had physical access to the mouse? [duplicate]
I was given a mouse by someone who now i realized would want to hack me. It is the Microsoft basic optical mouse v2.0. Can this mouse be modified to inject spyware and malware onto my laptop?
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How can USB ports be dangerous? [duplicate]
I hear all this vague information about how USB ports are dangerous, because people can just stick in a stick with malware on it and Windows just happily runs it automatically, or something.
It's so ...
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Secondary disk safe to use after potential virus?
I've recently bought a new disk and made a fresh install on a home PC after having potential malware (or a very corrupted registry, whatever your take is on having numerous Blue Screens of Death, one ...
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Hardware TOTP system-on-chip with strongly guarded seed
I am looking for hardware TOTP system-on-chip, where it would not be possible for an adversary to extract the shared secret (TOTP seed in other words). I am researching an application, where one same ...
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Self-encrypting drive - eDrive vs ATA Security
Let's for a moment forget about the possible drawbacks of SEDs themselves. One of the upsides of SEDs is that the encryption key never leaves the drive but wouldn't using eDrive negate this advantage ...
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Making time(0) produce an error
I'm currently reviewing/reversing a software (coded in C) and it has a line like this :
time_t var = time(0);
My goal it to get this time(0) call to return -1.
(I cannot modify the parameter.)
...
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Is there spy hardware that can be attached to laptops and if so how to detect them?
A while back I lived in shared apartments. One day I returned to my room and found my laptop screen frame open. Since then I keep get log in attempts to my accounts.
I scanned my laptop with multiple ...
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For someone who deals with dangerous files and websites frequently what is the way to avoid getting infected by spyware/virus permanently?
For someone who deals with dangerous files and websites frequently or even for the general user what is the way to avoid getting infected by spyware/virus permanently?
I am looking to buy a new laptop ...
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Why does certification for datacenter equipment test for TEMPEST?
I wonder why certification (common criteria and stuff like that) of security critical hardware that is meant to be used in datacenters (e.g. link encryptors) includes some tests related to TEMPEST ...
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NVMe Self Encrypting Drive - How to use ATA Security?
I own a Samsung 980 Pro which, according to its own specification, supports Class 0, TCG/Opal 2.0 and IEEE16667. Since it's an NVMe drive, I cannot use hdparm in order to set up class 0 encryption but ...
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SED specification for USB sticks?
As I got from my preliminary research, there is an established standard TCG Opal 2.0 which defines in specification the principles of SED encryption thus enabling the interoperability between vendors.
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Is there any guideline or procedure for 4G hardware equipement (4G landline phone and home Wifi router) security audit/assessment?
I need to perform a security audit/assessment on 4G LTE hardware equimements :
4G landline wireless phone (not android OS but with many features such as WiFi hotspot)
4G Wifi home router
Is there ...
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Need to leave computer in repair shop. How can I secure solid state drive contents?
I need to take my desktop into a PC repair shop and leave it for a few days. It would be easy for them to copy the drives without me knowing. I am running Windows 10 with a password but this doesn't ...
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Are there ways to mitigate the risks of using a Bluetooth/wireless keyboard when the device connected is next to it?
Normally, I avoid using any Bluetooth or wireless devices, especially HIDs, but for a project I am working on the only keyboards that will fit the size are Bluetooth and wireless keyboards, so I am ...
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How to secure against USB drives?
Is it possible to set up Windows in a way that plugging in external storage can't compromise the device/network?
To clarify, I would like to use the storage device to transfer data into the network. ...
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Can a mouse contain viruses? [duplicate]
My mouse dongle was plugged into a laptop infected with a Trojan Virus, is it a possibility for the mouse dongle to be infected?
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Remotely disable a laptop's ability to power on or charge?
If I loan out laptops to my employees to work remotely, such as Dr's, Nurses and other healthcare workers that generate sensitive information on patients, how can I remotely disable the laptop's ...
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Do mechanical keyboards only have non-modifiable firmware baked in?
I always used to use a mechanical keyboard to type. Recently, I found a hardware trojan in my keyboard's firmware.
Can mechanical keyboard firmware be modified?
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supply chain security - ways of detecting and deterring compromise at a lower level i.e., hardware class of vulnerabilities [duplicate]
Software supply chain focuses on software. How about hardware supply chain security? I refer to Compromise Hardware Supply Chain ("https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1195/003/").
I wish to ...
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