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Leaking Secrets from Air-Gap Computers by Spelling Radio Signals from RAM

By Hacker News · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The attack mechanism targets random access memory buses to generate software-controlled radio signals from isolated machines. Hostile actors intercept these emissions using an off-the-shelf antenna paired with software-defined radio hardware to reconstruct the exfiltrated binary code. The researchers confirmed this channel can achieve transfer rates of up to 1,000 bits per second while simultaneously presenting countermeasures to mitigate the risk.

Key points

Malware can bypass physical network isolation by using computer memory buses to produce r…: Malware can bypass physical network isolation by using computer memory buses to produce raw radio waves.
Sensitive assets including biometric data, keystroke logs, encryption keys, and images ca…: Sensitive assets including biometric data, keystroke logs, encryption keys, and images can be encoded into radio signals.
Defensive countermeasures have been formulated alongside the transmission design to help…: Defensive countermeasures have been formulated alongside the transmission design to help protect secured systems.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Computer Science > Cryptography and Security

[Submitted on 3 Sep 2024]

Title:RAMBO: Leaking Secrets from Air-Gap Computers by Spelling Covert Radio Signals from Computer RAM

View PDF HTML (experimental)Abstract:Air-gapped systems are physically separated from external networks, including the Internet. This isolation is achieved by keeping the air-gap computers disconnected from wired or wireless networks, preventing direct or remote communication with other devices or networks. Air-gap measures may be used in sensitive environments where security and isolation are critical to prevent private and confidential information leakage.

In this paper, we present an attack allowing adversaries to leak information from air-gapped computers. We show that malware on a compromised computer can generate radio signals from memory buses (RAM). Using software-generated radio signals, malware can encode sensitive information such as files, images, keylogging, biometric information, and encryption keys. With software-defined radio (SDR) hardware, and a simple off-the-shelf antenna, an attacker can intercept transmitted raw radio signals from a distance. The signals can then be decoded and translated back into binary information. We discuss the design and implementation and present related work and evaluation…

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Key Points

Malware can bypass physical network isolation by using computer memory buses to produce r…: Malware can bypass physical network isolation by using computer memory buses to produce raw radio waves.
Sensitive assets including biometric data, keystroke logs, encryption keys, and images ca…: Sensitive assets including biometric data, keystroke logs, encryption keys, and images can be encoded into radio signals.
Defensive countermeasures have been formulated alongside the transmission design to help…: Defensive countermeasures have been formulated alongside the transmission design to help protect secured systems.

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In short

Key Points

Malware can bypass physical network isolation by using computer memory buses to produce r…: Malware can bypass physical network isolation by using computer memory buses to produce raw radio waves.
Sensitive assets including biometric data, keystroke logs, encryption keys, and images ca…: Sensitive assets including biometric data, keystroke logs, encryption keys, and images can be encoded into radio signals.
Defensive countermeasures have been formulated alongside the transmission design to help…: Defensive countermeasures have been formulated alongside the transmission design to help protect secured systems.

Topics

Technology

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Leaking Secrets from Air-Gap Computers by Spelling Radio Signals from RAM

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