What is Phlashing?
Phlashing is a technique which can be used to permanently disable hardware by loading a corrupted BIOS onto the hardware. In a simple example of phlashing, a digital camera could be rendered inoperable by destroying the firmware which is used to run the camera. A phlashing demonstration was performed for security professionals in May 2008, illustrating the potential dangers of this technique, although many professionals were skeptical about whether or not phlashing would actually be used in the wild. This technique relies on the fact that electronics like computers, routers, cameras, scanners, and other peripherals rely on firmware to run, and such firmware needs to be updated periodically. As a result, manufacturers set their equipment up in such a way that it is easy to update the firmware, and in many cases poor security protocols are in place, leaving the electronics vulnerable to attack. When someone updates the firmware on a device, it is known as “flashing,” and the word “phlash
Phlashing is a technique which can be used to permanently disable hardware by loading a corrupted BIOS onto the hardware. In a simple example of phlashing, a digital camera could be rendered inoperable by destroying the firmware which is used to run the camera. A phlashing demonstration was performed for security professionals in May 2008, illustrating the potential dangers of this technique, although many professionals were skeptical about whether or not phlashing would actually be used in the wild. This technique relies on the fact that electronics like computers, routers, cameras, scanners, and other peripherals rely on firmware to run, and such firmware needs to be updated periodically. As a result, manufacturers set their equipment up in such a way that it is easy to update the firmware, and in many cases poor security protocols are in place, leaving the electronics vulnerable to attack. When someone updates the firmware on a device, it is known as “flashing,†and the word “p
