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Malware Running On Graphics Cards
An anonymous reader writes "Given the great potential of general-purpose computing on graphics processors, it is only natural to expect that malware authors will attempt to tap the powerful features of modern GPUs to their benefit. In this paper, the authors demonstrate the feasibility of implementing a malware that can utilize the GPU (PDF) to evade virus scanning applications. Moreover, the authors discuss the potential of more sophisticated attacks, like accessing the screen pixels periodically to harvest private data displayed on the user screen, or to trick the the user by displaying false, benign-looking information when visiting rogue web sites (e.g., overwriting suspicious URLs with benign-looking ones in the browser's address bar)."
Imagine starting to be target for specific porn habits. No amount of private browsing would keep the ads from showing up on your computer.
GENERATION 25: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social exper
It would be pretty difficult to determine which pixels are the URL bar on the GPU though. Unless of course all this GPU acceleration they're putting in browsers now allows you to somehow read the coordinates directly.
-- Let us endeavor so to live that when we pass even the undertaker shall be sorry. -- M. Twain
Headline: "Malware Running On Graphics Cards"
TFS/TFA: "Here's a paper showing that malware on graphics cards is theoretically possible and could possibly evade detection."
If you were trying to sensationalize the headline, you might as well have thrown "won't anyone think of the children!?!?" in there as well.
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." - Oscar Wilde
Maybe, but people have so many addons and toolbars it would be a pretty rough guess.
-- Let us endeavor so to live that when we pass even the undertaker shall be sorry. -- M. Twain
Before you can build a wall, you have to imagine someone walking over the imaginary line at the edge of your yard.
Or you can figure out that a wall would have been useful after they come into your yard, but then it's too late.
See, most taxpayers understand that we pay taxes to prevent the crime, we don't wait until it happens and then rail that the government isn't doing anything about it.
All the malware has to do is add a CA it already owns.
None of the described future attacks are feasible. Shared framebuffer is not accessible to applications directly for security reasons (authors think that this is "unfortunate"); direct access to framebuffer is not "inevitable" in the future -- much better technique is to use driver-controlled fast GPU blits: data doesn't leave GPU. Non-timesharing is non-issue -- driver can detect timeouts and reset hardware (TDR on Vista).
So the only issue is polymorphic virus that may use GPGPU decryption. If this happens, scanners will start using CUDA, or GPU virtualization.