Researchers have created proof-of-concept (PoC) malware that can stealthily exfiltrate data from air-gapped computers using power lines.
The malware, dubbed PowerHammer, is the work of researchers at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. The university has previously published research on jumping air gaps via magnetic fields, infrared cameras, router LEDs, scanners, HDD activity LEDs, USB devices, the noise emitted by hard drives and fans, and heat emissions.
PowerHammer exfiltrates data from a compromised machine by regulating its power consumption, which can be controlled through the workload of the device’s CPU. Sensitive pieces of information, such as passwords and encryption keys, can be stolen one bit at a time by modulating changes in the current flow.
