Proof-of-concept Malware Targets GPUs

[CheeseMan42]

Information about two proof-of-concept pieces of malware reveals that the software targets the GPU, rather than the more common CPU attack vector. Targeting the GPU allows the malware to "run without the usual software hooks or modifications malware makes in the operating system kernel. Those modifications can be dead giveaways that a system is infected." Jellyfish is a Linux based rootkit that uses the OpenCL API to target both AMD and NVIDIA GPUs, but requires the system to have a dedicated graphics card. The Demon keylogger is based off a 2013 research paper titled You Can Type, but You Can’t Hide: A Stealthy GPU-based Keylogger. In the paper the researchers stated, "The evaluation of our prototype implementation shows that a GPU-based keylogger can effectively record all user keystrokes, store them in the memory space of the GPU, and even analyze the recorded data in-place, with negligible runtime overhead."

Source: Ars Technica

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