Computing giant Microsoft recently put out a report claiming that businesses globally are neglecting a key aspect of their cyber-security - the need to protect computers, servers and other devices from firmware attacks.
Its survey of 1,000 cyber-security decision makers at enterprises across multiple industries in the UK, US, Germany, Japan and China has revealed that 80% of firms have experienced at least one firmware attack in the past two years.
Yet only 29% of security budgets have been allocated to protect firmware.
However, the new report comes on the back of a recent significant security vulnerability affecting Microsoft's widely-used Exchange email system.
And the computing giant launched a range of extra-secure Windows 10 computers last year that it says will prevent firmware from being tampered with.
So is this just an attempt to divert attention and sell more PCs, or should businesses be more worried?
How a firmware attack works
Firmware is a type of permanent software code used to control each hardware component in a PC.
Increasingly, cyber-criminals are designing malware that quietly tampers with the firmware in motherboards, which tell the PC to start up, or with the firmware in hardware drivers.
This is a sneaky way to neatly bypass a computer's operating system or any software designed to detect malware, because the firmware code is in the hardware, which is a layer below the operating system.
Source: bbc.com
Author: Mary-Ann Russon
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