Are you interested in REQUESTS? Save with our coupons on WHATSAPP o TELEGRAM!

BadPower is the malware that "sets fire" to your smartphone

Among the most sought after functions when purchasing a smartphone we find that relating to the support for fast charging, even better if it is wireless. In reality today's technology allows you to find this feature also on entry level devices, such as the Redmi 9, but did you know that the constant use of fast charging accelerates the degradation of the smartphone battery?

But in reality, in this article we will not address this issue, which on balance is the lesser evil than what we are about to tell you. In fact, a recent study conducted by the team of Xuanwu Lab (a research unit of the Chinese giant Tencent) revealed that fast charging is vulnerable to the BadPower malware, which has gone into the news for its ability to set mobile phones on fire. This malware bypasses the firmware of battery chargers that take advantage of fast-charging technology, causing the connected device to overheat to the point that it ignites.

bad power

BadPower is the malware that "sets fire" to your smartphone

According to the report, BadPower malware directly attacks the firmware of fast chargers (chargers that use fast charging technology). Unlike regular chargers, quick chargers have built-in firmware that allows them to communicate with connected devices - this provides the proper charging speed and power, based on the capabilities of each specific device.

What BadPower does is corrupt this system, thus allowing the victim charger to supply more volts than those connected devices can support. High voltage causes excessive heating which can bend, melt or even burn the internal parts.

bad power

The most dangerous thing is that the BadPower malware attacks silently and above all it is easy to infect and infect others, because if the malware resides on your smartphone and you use a battery charger of your friend, equipped with fast charging technology, the malware will modify the loaner charger system and all devices connected to it later could be damaged.

The Xuanwu Lab team tested this malware on 35 fast chargers (of the 234 models available on the market) and found that 18 models from 8 different brands are vulnerable, so the good thing is that not all chargers are at risk.

bad power

Another positive thing is that some chargers can be updated through new firmware but not all allow this function and therefore must be thrown away. Among the victims of the malware we find, for example, the new 65W Gan charger from Xiaomi, which has been withdrawn from the market.

At the moment, no guidelines have been released on how to prevent this situation, if not the classic good habits, such as downloading applications only from trusted stores, but above all the best thing to do is avoid lending and borrowing the charger, especially to strangers.The solution could be to strengthen the charger firmware to prevent unauthorized changes and implement better overload protection on smartphones.

[Source]

[Street]

Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite -Smartphone 6.57 "FHD + DotDisplay (6GB RAM, 128GB ROM, Quad Camera, 4160mah Battery, 2020 [Italian Version] - Aurora Blue color
🇪🇺FREE Fast Shipping from Spain (NO customs) ✈
160,62€ 414,00€
PEGN00RL15
⚠️ If the coupon has expired, look for the updated one on ours Telegram Channel
Emanuele Iafulla
Emanuele Iafulla

Nerd, Geek, Netizen, terms that do not belong to me. Simply myself, technology lover and provocative as Xiaomi does with his products. High quality at fair prices, a real provocation for the other most famous brands.

Subscribe
Notify
guest

1 How
most voted
more new older
Inline feedback
View all comments
Condo B
Condo B
3 years ago

As reported by Chinese research, the charger must first be infected with malware using a special device and for now there is no evidence that an app infected via any mobile phone can corrupt the firmware of the charger. So I'd say you can rest assured.

XiaomiToday.it
Logo