Computers that are isolated from the Internet (air-gapped computer) are long considered to be the most secure and safest place for storing data in critical infrastructures such as industrial control systems, financial institutions, and classified military networks
In the past, it has been shown that malware can exfiltrate data from air-gapped computers by transmitting ultrasonic signals via the computer's speakers. However, such acoustic communication relies on the availability of speakers on a computer.
A team of researchers from Ben-Gurion University published their finding in a paper titled, "DiskFiltration: Data Exfiltration from Speakerless Air-Gapped Computers via Covert Hard Drive Noise," explaining a unique technique that uses signals (sound signals) emitted from the hard disk drive (HDD) of the targeted air-gapped computer to transfer data
HOW DOES IT WORKS
It uses the voice coil "actuator" which created inside your hard drive due to moving on the disk plate while accessing specific parts/blocks of the storage.
As demonstrated, the researchers used their malware to manipulate the movements of the actuator in very specific way to generate acoustic noise (like morse code) that they interpreted into binary data using a smartphone app from six feets away, at a speed of 180 bits per minute, Ars reported.
"The idle acoustic noise emitted from disk rotation is static and cannot be controlled by software," the paper explains.
"In order to modulate binary data, we exploit the seek acoustic noise generated by the movements of the actuator. By regulating (starting and stopping) a sequence of seek operations, we control the acoustic signal emitted from the HDD, which in turn can be used to modulate binary 0 and 1." The paper said
HOW TO PROTECT FROM IT
Only way to protect your pc from this type of hacking is by using sold state drive(SSD) which does not emitted any sound during operation.
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