One Hacked Server Opened A Backdoor To Half A Million Asus Computers

Own an ASUS computer? Researchers with Kaspersky Lab have a few a piece of grim alternative news to share with you. One of the servers that supply updates for your laptop changed into hacked, and it can have driven risky malware in your gadget.

Kaspersky first observed something became amiss after dating its software program recently, including a function that detects assaults just like this one. Kaspersky software located surprising code running within the ASUS replace app on clients’ computers. The agency believes as many as 500,000 machines will be affected.

That code had long gone omitted because it was signed through a genuine ASUS certificate. That’s enough to convince many anti-malware gears to appearance the alternative way. Motherboard reviews that even Google’s multi-engine VirusTotal scanner neglected this unique malware.

The certificates weren’t the best aspect that allowed the assault to go, not noted. Whoever changed into behind the server hack wasn’t interested in launching a huge-scale attack. According to Kaspersky, the hackers had decided on 600 unique systems. They have been diagnosed by their MAC addresses, a unique identifier connected to community adapters.

If a machine’s MAC address wasn’t at the listing, the software program sat dormant, making it more challenging to hit upon. Anti-malware software can’t continually spot formerly-unknown malware if it is now not doing anything.

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Other things that could, in most cases, enhance red flags did not straight away arouse suspicions either. One VirusTotal uploader cited grammar and spelling errors. However, those had been effortlessly dismissed. Unaffected ASUS apps contained comparable errors.

How the hackers gained access to the ASUS server remains a piece of a mystery. One possibility that Kaspersky Lab has considered is that any other hacking incident can also have been the starting point.

A similar delivery chain attack compromised replace servers for the CCleaner app. One of the number one targets of the CCleaner assaults turned into ASUS. That may be more than a coincidence.

If you very own an ASUS computer and need to discover if the malicious replacement has compromised your device, Wired can walk you via the system. ASUS has been contacted for comment, and this put up might be up to date with the organization’s reaction.