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New virus attacks AMD processors

Security researchers at Symantec have discovered a new proof of concept virus that targets processors rather than operating systems. Security researchers at Symantec have discovered a new proof of a concept virus that targets processors rather than operating systems. The worm comes in two versions, targeting 32-bit and 64-bit processors from AMD. Symantec refers to the online pests as w32.bounds and w64.bounds. This is a rather interesting idea and the author sure was innovative on this one!

Symantec found the code in an online meeting place for virus writers, such as underground websites and IRC chat channels. "The author's intent is really proof of concept, to show that his virus can work and be difficult to detect across multiple processor families. He's showing his technical competence. But you would not use this technique if you wanted to get a pandemic. You would not use this technique unless it was for a very targeted attack or an academic attack." The w32.bounds and w64.bounds viruses infect systems by tying themselves to Windows executable files, which disqualifies them as so-called chip level threats. They do however employ elements of such attacks by showing an ability to executive chip level assembly code.

vnunet.com

Posted by | Mon, Aug 28, 2006 - 10:45 AM