Security News > 2020 > December > Air-Gap Attack Turns Memory Modules into Wi-Fi Radios

Super-secure air-gapped computers are vulnerable to a new type of attack that can turn a PC's memory module into a modified Wi-Fi radio, which can then transmit sensitive data at 100 bits-per-second wirelessly to nearly six feet away.

Noted air-gap researcher Mordechai Guri created the proof-of-concept attack and described it in a research paper released earlier this month under the auspices of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel's cybersecurity research center.

A memory bus is made up of a set of wires and conductors that connect and transfer data from a computer's main memory to a system's central processing unit or a memory controller.

"Since the clock speed of memory modules is typically around the frequency of 2.4 GHz or its harmonics, the memory operations generate electromagnetic emissions around the IEEE 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi frequency bands," Guri wrote.

Researchers said they were able to manipulate the ambient electromagnetic signals of the memory modules by using a feature introduced by chipmaker Intel designed to allow gamers to overclock their systems for better performance.

News URL

https://threatpost.com/air-gap-attack-turns-memory-wifi/162358/