Cameras can steal data from computer hard drive LEDs

Jerusalem, February 23

Data can be stolen from an isolated “air-gapped” computer’s hard drive by reading the pulses of light on the LED drive using various types of cameras and light sensors.

Researchers at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Israel demonstrated how data can be received by a Quadcopter drone flight, even outside a window with line-of-sight of the transmitting computer.

Air-gapped computers are isolated - separated both logically and physically from public networks - ostensibly so that they cannot be hacked over the Internet or within company networks.

These computers typically contain an organisation’s most sensitive and confidential information.

Led by Mordechai Guri, the research team utilised the hard-drive (HDD) activity LED lights that are found on most desktop PCs and laptops.

The researchers found that once malware is on a computer, it can indirectly control the HDD LED, turning it on and off rapidly (thousands of flickers per second) - a rate that exceeds the human visual perception capabilities.

As a result, highly sensitive information can be encoded and leaked over the fast LED signals, which are received and recorded by remote cameras or light sensors.

“Our method compared to other LED exfiltration is unique, because it is also covert. The hard drive LED flickers frequently, and therefore the user won’t be suspicious about changes in its activity,” Guri added. — PTI