General Question: Can Malware Affect the Bios?

bper · Feb 18, 2009

Hi,

In the past, as far as I knew, malware only affected how hardware performed based on the drivers that may be infected.

Has malware advanced to the point where now it can affect a computer's BIOS?

If so, can resetting BIOS to its defaults solve the problems?

Thanks.

dr.moriarty · Feb 18, 2009

:major

Here's some info, bper... my more experienced collegues will probably answer in greater depth.

Malware Evolution: January - March 2006

Excerpted:
Viruses which write themselves to BIOS are nothing new. In 1998, the notorious CIH (Chernobyl) virus wiped the BIOS if it wasn’t able to access it. Then Trojan programs which conducted similar attacks came into being. Hesman created PoC code which made it possible to escalate system privileges and read data from the victim machine’s memory.
Click to expand...

2006 - Researchers: Rootkits headed for BIOS

A Preview of Safari Books Online : Malware: Fighting Malicious Code

dr.m

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General Question: Can Malware Affect the Bios?

bper Corporal

dr.moriarty Malware Super Sleuth Staff Member

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General Question: Can Malware Affect the Bios?

bper Corporal

dr.moriarty Malware Super Sleuth Staff Member

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