📱 2022-08-25 19:13:00 – Paris/France.
Introduced at this year's Def Con is a modest yet powerful hacking tool, the O.MG Elite Cable. With the physical appearance of a standard Lightning or USB-C cable, hidden modifications mean this cable can log keystrokes, perform attacks and even stealthily transmit data from isolated devices with its own WiFi network.
As seen by Corin Faife of The Verge at Def Con, here's how creator MG describes the creation:
"It's a cable that looks like other cables you already have," says MG, the cable's creator. "But inside each cable, I put an implant that has a web server, USB communications, and Wi-Fi access. So it plugs in, turns on, and you can connect to it." .
One of the powerful features of the new O.MG Elite over its predecessors is that advanced networking features allow it to handle two-way communications.
O.MG Elite can perform attacks and read data passing through the cable, for example between iPhone and Mac, or almost any other combination of devices, as it is Lightning to USB-A, Lightning to USB-C, C to C, and microUSB versions.
Creator MG says that so far a cable like this would have sold for up to $20. But that's $000+ for early access customers.
Attacks, keylogger and built-in WiFi
O.MG Elite is capable of performing keystroke injection attacks - tricking a device into thinking it's a keyboard typing commands. This opens vulnerabilities like command line attacks.
“It also contains a keylogger: if used to connect a keyboard to a host computer, the cable can record every keystroke that passes through it and save up to 650 keystrokes in its onboard storage for later retrieval. . Your password? Connected. Bank account details? Connected. Bad drafts of tweets you didn't want to send? Also connected.
X-ray showing the chip implanted in O.MG Elite
As noted by The Verge, a big part of this cable's chilling ability is the built-in WiFi to silently send data back to an attacker, even on isolated devices.
"Many 'exfiltration' attacks - like the Chrome password theft mentioned above - rely on sending data over the target machine's internet connection, which may be blocked by anti-virus software or the rules for configuring a corporate network. The onboard network interface bypasses these protections, giving the cable its own communication channel to send and receive data and even a way to steal data from targets that are "isolated", i.e. completely disconnected from external networks.
As for the everyday scammers buying this and trying to get people to use it, that's probably not too much of a concern with O.MG Elite priced at $180+. However, if you have sensitive information on your devices, it's good to be careful about who you accept a cable from.
O.MG is designed as a tool for professional security testing, but The Verge says it's also something that could be used by moderately experienced programmers.
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SOURCE: Reviews News
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