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[MaximumPC] Researcher to Demo Apple Hack That Destroys Batteries

5K views 70 replies 56 participants last post by  PoopaScoopa 
#1 ·
SOURCE

Quote:


At the upcoming Black Hat Security conference in August, a researcher by the name of Charlie Miller plans to completely ruin a MacBook. The way he’s going to do it is the real story, though. Miller will demo a new attack that can be used to take control of the battery in Apple laptops and completely destroy them, even causing them to catch fire.

 
#2 ·
So is he able to do it remotely or locally only?

Also, funny and strange at the same time:

Quote:


Many security analysts have asked Miller to stop his work, as it could prove too dangerous, but Miller is forging ahead.

 
#4 ·
that is pretty cool, and answering the last line of the article, it should be public.
 
#5 ·
That's pretty awesome. Apple will probably jump to get it fixed...unless they act like it's no big deal, and then somehow the instructions to do this are "leaked" across the web for anybody to use.
 
#7 ·
Quote:


Do you think Miller should back off, or should the information be public?

Very instresting read, and to the above part of the article, i think the information should be public, this way it would allow comapny's to realise the mistake and make them take action on it, rather then waiting for a group of people to privatley find out and spread the word around to other virus makers/hackers casuing things to get out of hand, and potentioally injure someone.
 
#8 ·
Not very hard, just tell the Lithium Polymer battery to not stop charging when its full. Go on youtube and look at overcharging Li-Po batteries.

Used to happen to a airsoft gun I had. Used to be really into the sport. I always charged them on a concrete floor in my basement to avoid them catching fire. One day, my charger over charged my Li-Po when I was sleeping and it went boom, caught fire, luckily concrete doesn't burn...
 
#13 ·
Quote:


Originally Posted by noak
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Not very hard, just tell the Lithium Polymer battery to not stop charging when its full. Go on youtube and look at overcharging Li-Po batteries.

Used to happen to a airsoft gun I had. Used to be really into the sport. I always charged them on a concrete floor in my basement to avoid them catching fire. One day, my charger over charged my Li-Po when I was sleeping and it went boom, caught fire, luckily concrete doesn't burn...

Lithium Polymer is hobby stuff. I use them all the time in RC planes.

I believe like cell phones, laptops use lithium ion which is much safer.

And yes I always charge my batteries in a protective casing on concrete.
 
#14 ·
Quote:


Originally Posted by Romanrp
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There isnt a way to take the batteries out, and I doubt the flame will melt the aluminium so it should be a safety hazard.

No,it will be worse,the aluminum would get hot enough to burn you.

Quote:


Originally Posted by noak
View Post

Not very hard, just tell the Lithium Polymer battery to not stop charging when its full. Go on youtube and look at overcharging Li-Po batteries.

Used to happen to a airsoft gun I had. Used to be really into the sport. I always charged them on a concrete floor in my basement to avoid them catching fire. One day, my charger over charged my Li-Po when I was sleeping and it went boom, caught fire, luckily concrete doesn't burn...

Lithium Ion is used in cell phones and laptops.

Quote:


Originally Posted by xlink
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I just hope this reduces the number of Apple fanatacs

Nah,they'll just call it a "feature",or jobs will probably say you're charging it wrong.
 
#17 ·
I tought the charging mechanism was hard coded into the electronics of the charging circuitry... right ?

If it's not hard coded then how can Apple protect the equipment against this sort of action ? Even if they can keep the hackers at bay, it could be someone intentionally doing it in order to get a new Mac in return. People are capable of anything. And how would Apple be able to tell the diference between malfunctioning and deliberate tampering ? Well, I guess if many people started doing it they would know something fishy was going on, but if it's here and there it becomes tricky.
 
#19 ·
Quote:


Originally Posted by tpi2007
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I tought the charging mechanism was hard coded into the electronics of the charging circuitry... right ?

If it's not hard coded then how can Apple protect the equipment against this sort of action ? Even if they can keep the hackers at bay, it could be someone intentionally doing it in order to get a new Mac in return. People are capable of anything. And how would Apple be able to tell the diference between malfunctioning and deliberate tampering ? Well, I guess if many people started doing it they would know something fishy was going on, but if it's here and there it becomes tricky.

It shouldn't be hard coded... Your thinking of having a physical switch, lets say when the battery reaches X charge a physical sensor/switch disables charging. I would have thought that too though, apparently not. =S
 
#21 ·
I'm also wondering if this can be done remotely.........
 
#22 ·
If he can do it remotely, imagine the kind of damage he can do to Apple stores. *Daydreams about being an Apple one-man terrorist army* Don't they usually even have Wi-Fi/ethernet connections to let you try out the laptops on the internet?
 
#23 ·
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Originally Posted by _GTech
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But, but, I thought apple was free of viruses, malware, and spyware and was the most secure OS/computer to date?



This.
 
#24 ·
Quote:



Originally Posted by dham
View Post

Lithium Polymer is hobby stuff. I use them all the time in RC planes.

I believe like cell phones, laptops use lithium ion which is much safer.

And yes I always charge my batteries in a protective casing on concrete.


Quote:



Originally Posted by Heavy MG
View Post


Lithium Ion is used in cell phones and laptops.

Lithium itself is an alkali metal. Very dangerous, even when mixed with other elements.

Heres a video to prove how dangerous lithium ion batteries are when they are overcharged.





Go to 1:59 to see the explosion.

That would completely destroy a unibody aluminium macbook pro.

Not only is something like that dangerous, but also deadily if your charging your macbook on your lap.

As you can see, Lithium batteries, no matter the type, are always dangerous because of the way lithium will react when too much energy is added.

If this hacker finds a way to put too much maH into a battery and take out the circuitry protecting the battery from not being overcharged, then this could be a very dangerous thing.

I see a cease and desist letter in this guys mailbox soon...

Hope this clears some stuff up
 
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