The Anti-virus Times

Friday, July 15, 2016

As reflected in this news release, the company is claiming that their device is protected from viruses. And they are telling the truth.

A virus is a piece of malicious code that infects files. In order to infect whatever they are targeting, viruses must be able to access that target, and if access is impossible, no infection can occur.

However, viruses are only one type of malware.

Instead of using viruses, criminals can opt for an exploit that will alter the behaviour of a running process. Some malicious programs are completely written in JavaScript; others use VBA — there exist many ways to execute malicious code without writing it to a disk!

Yes, the compromised process will only run until the device is restarted (by the way, when was the last time you restarted your tablet?) or until it is unloaded from the memory, but that may be enough time for hackers to steal your confidential information, request a money transfer in your name, etc.

Hackers are out to make a profit, and infecting a device is only one way for them to achieve their goals.

The claim made in the news release about hackers being unable to affect the device’s hardware remotely is also a dubious one. No one will ever be able to eradicate social engineering techniques; they are always an option for criminals. And, we’ve all read many times about how incredibly resourceful users can be when they are determined to open infected emails. So switching to a protected mode doesn't make a device attacker-proof.