This Malware is on Fire – Literally

This Malware is on Fire – Literally

There is a new malware out there that can trick your phones power brick into catching on fire.

Cellphones and fires are not a new phenomenon, we all remember the debacle that was the Samsung Note 7. Due to the so called “aggressive” battery design, phones worldwide were exploding. This led to a swift recall and caused quite a dent in their public image.

However, the fires being started right now are at no fault to the manufacturers and not tied to a single brand. A recently discovered malware being called by the lab that discovered it “BadPower” is causing cellphone power bricks across various brands to start on fire.

Melted Cellphone

An example of one of the affected phones. Attribution Nathanial Stern via Flickr

It works by tricking the adapter into sending more electricity to the phone then it can handle, which over time will melt the internal components and start a fire. Xuanwu labs tested the BadPower malware with 35 different power bricks and they discovered 18 of those were vulnerable to the attack.

What’s even worse, if your phone fell victim to this attack there would be no external signs that it was happening, your power brick would just start on fire.

As with many things the solution to this problem is a firmware update provided by your cellphone manufacturer and this is yet another solid reminder to always keep the software on your devices updated.

Cellphones are not the only things vulnerable to attacks that may damage hardware. While most malware on computers is directed at stealing information, it’s technically possible for a malware to cause your personal computer to overheat, thereby damaging its CPU.

We may be entering a new age of malicious malware that’s aimed purely at destruction and not of the financial kind that we’re accustomed to.

In this case the best defense is a good offense, and if you’re a business located in the Central Valley, Valley Techlogic would love to be your strategic partner in protecting your business. Reach out today for a free cyber security assessment, in less than 30 minutes over the phone we can give you a place to start.

If you’re not ready for the assessment, we also have our free one-page cyber security checklist that was recently updated for 2020. We think it’s a great resource for your business.

Looking for more to read? We suggest these tech articles from the last week.

This article was powered by Valley TechLogic, an IT provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/valleytechlogic.

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