HP Laserjet printer can burn down the place ?

The EFY times carried out an article which was based on the research done in columbia university showing serious flaws in the laserjet printer capable of burning down the house.

Here is the article of the EFYtimes.

The researchers have identified the security flaw only in HP LaserJet printers so far and have expressed that the devices from other brands too may have similar issues.

Till now hackers could have only affected you online but researchers at Columbia University say that now that they can even burn your house, sitting in any part of the world. Yes, only with the help of some set of codes and your LaserJet Printer! The researchers have identified the security flaw only in HP LaserJet printers so far and have expressed that the devices from other brands too may have a similar issues.

It is worth mentioning here that the hackers can use the embedded systems in your printer. According to a Crazy Engineers report, these are small computers that are capable of connecting to the Internet, while most of today’s printers are smart enough to be functional as an individual unit, nothing much have been done to make them secure.

The researchers from Columbia University demonstrated this flaw by hacking a computer and heating up the fuser of the printer. They overloaded it with some instructions, which turned the paper brown and smoke. The thermal switch of the printer was shut down during this demonstration, which caused it burst into flames.

HP's printers allow a remote firmware update before starting a printer, but they miss out on examining the source for authenticity. The hackers can send codes to the printer and hack it to alter the current version of the printer’s firmware. The altered code gets inside the embedded system so deeply that the only way to get rid of it is to remove them and run manual test.

Commenting on the issue, Keith Moore, chief technologist, HP, said that they will take the issue 'very seriously'. Moore exclaimed that all new printers from the company since 2009 require digital signatures for firmware updates and that the printers used by the researchers were older models.

The report by Crazy Engineers quoted Moore as saying, "Home users would not be much affected as most of them have InkJet printers, which do not allow remote firmware updates. But organisations and other users of LaserJet printers need to look into the security aspect more seriously."

Source : efytimes