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Malicious Hardware Hacking May Be the Next Frontier

An anonymous reader writes "It's a given that hackers will target software, and that's enough for many people to worry about. But now there's the possibility that hackers would hide malicious code in the hardware itself. A hardware hack could be an annoyance, by stopping a mobile phone from functioning. Or it could be more dangerous, if it damages the way a critical system operates. Villasenor says there are several types of attacks. Broadly they would fall into two categories: one is when a block stops a chip from functioning, while the other involves shipping data out."

11 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. Re:We Certainly May! by natehoy · · Score: 3, Funny

    Then again, July not.

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    "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
  2. Re:Uhm? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think somebody accidentally the headline.

  3. For some reason... by The+MAZZTer · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...this reminds me of the whole "Hackers can make your computer explode!" scare that went around in the early PC era...

  4. Re:lolwut? by 0racle · · Score: 5, Funny

    Someone accidentally the whole thing.

    --
    "I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
  5. Article Headline Hackers May the Final Frontier by noidentity · · Score: 2, Funny

    Someone hacked the article title, it seems. That's a bigger threat right there.

  6. Ahem... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    May. The Next Frontier. These are the failures of the Slashdot Editors. Their ongoing mission: To explore strange new URLs, to seek out new memes and new trending topics. To boldly fail where no man has failed before!

  7. James May? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    May has modified cars as part of the show, but does that qualify as "hardware hacking"? Even then, so has Clarkson and Hammond.

  8. Hackors by kaoshin · · Score: 3, Funny

    I think it is possible that could hide malicious code in the. It could even potentially words from sentences. In Soviet Russia you.

  9. Re:lolwut? by Hijacked+Public · · Score: 5, Funny

    It may finally answer who was phone though. Hackers was phone.

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    "Sacrifice for the good of The State" - The State
  10. Re:Uhm? by Sloppy · · Score: 4, Funny

    In Soviet Russia, you!

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    As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
  11. Re:Why the poor choice of word? by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 2, Funny

    Still fighting that uphill battle? See, nobody knows or cares about the proper use of the word "hacker" except a small percentage of the geek population. And that samll percentage is NEVER going to be able to convince the other 99.5% of the population what the true meaning is. The meaning has been changed, and it happened in the 1980s. Just accept it.

    Oh, and also -
    A desktop tower is also now called the "CPU" or "hard drive"
    RAM capacity and hard drive storage capacity can now be used interchangeably
    Internet Explorer and Firefox applications are now called "the internets"
    Transferring any data over any medium is called "downloading"
    Any mp3 player, regardless of the brand, is called an "iPod"


    Please make a note of this for future reference.

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    "But this one goes to 11!"