Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He\u2019s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he\u2019s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics. ","collapsible":{"enabled":true,"maxHeight":250,"readMoreText":"Read more","readLessText":"Read less"}}), "https://slice.vanilla.futurecdn.net/13-4-22/js/authorBio.js"); } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } Jowi Morales Social Links Navigation Contributing Writer Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.
bit_user The article said: “Can anyone genuinely tell me what risk this is addressing or is it a solution in search of a problem?” HDMI and DisplayPort both support upstream data traffic. Based on their description, I'd guess the point of the device is to block that. Otherwise, a compromised monitor could be used in a supply-chain attack on air-gapped systems. It's like plugging in a compromised USB stick, but most people don't see it that way. Reply
chaz_music The security issue is on both directions, as @bit_user commented. I have personally seen some TV's that were behaving badly (compromised?) as well as set-top boxes. So any of the digital video cables/protocols could be an issue (HDMI, Display Port, DVI, Thunderbolt, USB). I think one of the earliest TV/monitor companies to get caught sending screen images back to corporate servers was Vizio. By now, I would expect more to be trying that. The Roku boxes share something with their mother-ship to send you ads base upon what you watched. But I think most of those devices do that now. I would also expect anything attached to a TV/monitor with a CPU could be an attack vector: gaming box, peripheral, display, any HMI device in general, digital based stereo/amp, MP3 player, phone, etc. Does anyone remember the Sony rootkit days ~ circa 2005? That was very profound corporate based hacking, and I stopped buying all Sony products. Reply
Notton I saw this and was confused. I read the article and now I am even more confused. Also, did AI write this article? It was a tofu dreg of words and didn't explain anything meaningful. In fact, the article could have easily been surmised as: "UK spy agency invents something stupid for a problem that doesn't exist, and we have no idea why, or what it actually does." Reply
Penfolduk Firstly, it is a viable risk. But, as the article points out, difficult to exploit. Most hackers would go for lower hanging fruit for their attack vectors. But the more organised ones, mainly State Actors, would have the resouces to exploit it. So, as the article explains, it's meant for ultra-sensitive information uses. A bit like no one thought the air-bricked Iranian uranium centrifuges were vulnerable until Stuxnet showed they were. And all that needed to be blocked was disabling the USB ports… Reply
Tomdee1776 This is similar to the Tempest program back when CRT monitors were in use. Someone could sit outside a building with the appropriate antenna and monitor and reproduce everything that was being displayed on the remote CRT monitor. That's why the NSA building in Maryland had green windows due to all the shielding in the glass. Pretty color too! Cheers Reply
AkroZ I have read the official article and it's even more confusing and seems like a scam / spyware: the product target laptops where someone can plug a monitor and could see by example personal informations. This device address the issue in filtering the signal to not have more than the protocole. If genuine it's most likely just a repeater, you can do the same thing with a cheap sound bar with an hdmi in and out. It will not protect against the attack vectors discussed, it will just avoid an infected laptop and monitor to communicate with something else than hdmi or display port protocol… (if you plug in). Reply
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/uk-spy-agency-releases-malware-blocking-gadget-for-hdmi-and-displayport-cables-silentglass-blocks-malicious-traffic-traveling-between-display-and-computer#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/subscription
- AMD Ryzen 5 7600X3D review: An unbeatable value gaming CPU
- Save over $150 on this fantastic Elecoo resin 3D printer with 16K resolution and a tilting vat — Saturn 4 Ultra 16K is on sale for just $493 right now on Amazon
- New 3D device computes using living brain cells — bioelectronic device uses 3D electronic mesh design paired with living tissue
- Intel reportedly says it boosted yields by selling what would normally be 'scrap' or 'low-expectation' CPUs — customers more willing to accept lesser chips due
- Score an RTX 5070 prebuilt with a Ryzen 7 7700X & 16 GB of DDR5 for $650 off — Stack these promo codes to save on Skytech Gaming's high-end systems
Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.