Types of Air Gap attacks

Krishnendu Paul -

Following are the list of air gap attack known . Though there are always research going on and may be we have more than following types of attack - but just wanted to keep a record.

  • LED-it-Go - exfiltrate data from air-gapped systems via an HDD's activity LED
  • USBee - force a USB connector's data bus give out electromagnetic emissions that can be used to exfiltrate data
  • AirHopper - use the local GPU card to emit electromagnetic signals to a nearby mobile phone, also used to steal data
  • Fansmitter - steal data from air-gapped PCs using sounds emanated by a computer's GPU fan
  • DiskFiltration - use controlled read/write HDD operations to steal data via sound waves
  • BitWhisper - exfiltrate data from non-networked computers using heat emanations
  • Unnamed attack - uses flatbed scanners to relay commands to malware infested PCs or to exfiltrate data from compromised systems
  • xLED - use router or switch LEDs to exfiltrate data
  • aIR-Jumper - use a security camera's infrared capabilities to steal data from air-gapped networks
  • HVACKer - use HVAC systems to control malware on air-gapped systems
  • MAGNETO & ODINI - steal data from Faraday cage-protected systems
  • MOSQUITO - steal data from PCs using attached speakers and headphones
  • PowerHammer - steal data from air-gapped systems using power lines
  • CTRL-ALT-LED - steal data from air-gapped systems using keyboard LEDs