Absolute lojack dell uefi software#
Absolute lojack dell uefi code#
Absolute lojack dell uefi windows#

In Leaks of the disreputable spyware producer Hacking Team, which supplied repressive states with surveillance software among other things, a real UEFI rootkit was discovered. To make matters worse, the implementation of Absolute contained some glaring security holes that made systems equipped with them vulnerable. Already in 2015, the antitheft of Computrade came under fire because it uses such techniques to protect against removal. The technique of UEFI BIOS rootkits is not new. Enabled Secure Boot and a current UEFI BIOS should actually prevent such attacks. However, this technique is very limited to other systems.

Absolute lojack dell uefi code#

By exploiting security gaps, the modified firmware with its own UEFI code could write to the system’s flash memory. Again and again, APT28 manages to infiltrate their target persons with Trojans through highly targeted spear phishing mails. Gaps in the BIOSĪccording to Eset’s Lojax description, installing the UEFI rootkit did not require physical access to the system. Other security companies and also the BSI locate APT28 in Russia with very close ties to military and secret service. An attribution to countries of origin or even clients Eset expressly does not provide. In addition, the software communicated with Command & Control servers, which have already been conspicuous in APT28 activities, which means a fairly reliable allocation. The virus researchers found Lojax several times related to tools attributed to APT28 this included among others their powerful backdoor program XAgent. Known are the elite spies behind Lojax under the name APT28, Sofacy and Fancy Bear Eset calls them – following the trend to Babylonian language confusion of security companies – Sednit. Eset was able to detect only a few specimens, which had infiltrated almost exclusively targets in the environment of governments in the Balkan, Central and Eastern Europe. Lojax is used very selective even on already very targeted operations. Among other things, the burglaries in the Bundestag and the US Democratic Party before the last elections are attributed to them. Lojax is apparently being used by a hacker group that is specialized in spying on Western governments and their environment.

Absolute lojack dell uefi windows#

This way, malware itself can survive a Windows reinstallation or a hard drive replacement. When booting the system, a UEFI BIOS module injects monitoring software into Windows before it even starts up.

However, none of these sophisticated espionage tools have been observed directly in action.Įset named the UEFI rootkit Lojax and it is based on technology and software used by Lojack, formerly known as Computrace, used as antitheft. It was already known for example, that the NSA and other professionally working cyber criminals use such techniques. When booting via UEFI Lojax injects the file autoche.exe into the Windows system and ensures that it is started.Įset’s antivirus researchers have detected a spyware-based UEFI rootkit on at least one system. The hacker group APT28, which is also probably responsible for the Bundestag hack, also infects systems via the UEFI BIOS.