Software is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear that someone, a company, or some other entity was hacked. This is understandable since software is the “brain” or consciousness of modern devices. So, controlling software gives an attacker the power to lock out a user, steal data, or cause havoc. Getting to software is also easier, as an attacker doesn't have to be near their target. But software updates can thwart a hacker, and companies have become adept at preempting attacks and closing vulnerabilities. It’s cheaper, too, to secure software.

Hardware security, however, is a different story. That's where hardware hacking comes in...

What Is Hardware Hacking Exactly?

Hardware hacking involves exploiting a flaw in the security of the physical components of a device. Unlike software hacking, attackers have to be onsite and need physical—and reasonably uninterrupted—access to the target device to execute hardware hacking. The tools needed to breach a device can be hardware, software, or a combination of both, depending on the objective.

But why would hackers target hardware? The primary reason is hardware comparatively offers lesser resistance, and a device model will not change over the years: for example, there are no hardware upgrades to Xbox consoles after release. So, an attacker who successfully hacks the Xbox 360 hardware can have quite the run before Microsoft releases a next gen console with better security. Besides gaming consoles, this also applies to all the devices you can think of: laptops, phones, security cameras, smart TVs, routers, and IoT devices.

Photo of Friends Playing Video Games

But, of course, the relative immutability of hardware after production doesn’t mean they are vulnerable out of the box. Device manufacturers use components—most notably, security chipsets—that ensure their devices remain resilient to most attacks for a long time. Hardware also has firmware (basically, software made specifically for hardware) that gets regular updates to ensure your device is compatible with the latest software even though its components are old. Firmware updates also make hardware resilient to common methods of hacking hardware.

To put firmware updates into perspective, imagine having to buy a new gaming console every time there’s a new type of game. That would be not only very frustrating but also expensive. In the end, you would consider it a wiser financial decision to get a console that is compatible with older and newer games or only requires a small fix to be all-round compatible. On the manufacturer’s end, that means they have to preempt what later generations of games will look like and make consoles that run them just fine. Or, at least, the components must be compatible with future game releases long enough to make buying the console a wise investment.

6 Common Methods Attackers Use to Hack Hardware

Photo of a boy soldering a circuit board

Hardware hacking is very hands-on: hackers need to own, handle, or be within physical range of the device they want to hack. The most common methods hackers use involve opening the device, plugging an external tool into a port, subjecting the device to extreme conditions, or using special software. That said, here are the common ways attackers hack hardware.

1. Fault Injection

Fault injection is the act of inducing stress in hardware to expose a vulnerability or produce an error that can be exploited. This can be achieved many ways, including CPU overclocking, DRAM hammering, undervolting the GPU, or short-circuiting. The goal is to stress the device hard enough to trigger protective mechanisms that won’t work as designed. Then, the attacker can exploit the system reset, bypass a protocol, and steal sensitive data.

2. Side-Channel Attacks

A side-channel attack is essentially exploiting a device’s modus operandi. Unlike fault injection attacks, the attacker does not have to induce stress. They only need to observe what makes the system tick, how it does so, and what exactly happens when it ticks or fails to. You can think of this type of attack as looking for your friend’s tell at a game; Insider reported how Tennis legend Andre Agassi learned to beat Boris Becker by watching Becker’s tongue to guess the direction of his serve.

Side-channel attacks can take the form of timing a program execution, measuring acoustic feedback from failed executions, or gauging how much power a device consumes when it performs a specific operation. Attackers can then use these signatures to guess the value or type of data processed.

3. Patching into the Circuit Board or JTAG Port

under the machine's hood

Unlike the aforementioned methods of hardware hacking, patching into the circuit board requires the hacker to open the device. Then they’ll need to study the circuitry to find where to connect external modules (like a Raspberry Pi) to control or communicate with the target device. A less invasive method is to hook up a microcontroller to trigger control mechanisms wirelessly. This particular method works for hacking simple IoT devices like coffee makers and pet feeders.

Meanwhile, patching into the JTAG port takes hacking up a notch. The JTAG, named for its developer, the Joint Test Action Group, is a hardware interface on printed circuit boards. The interface is primarily used for low-level programming, debugging, or testing embedded CPUs. By opening the JTAG debugging port, a hacker can dump (i.e. extract and analyze images of) the firmware to find vulnerabilities.

4. Using a Logic Analyzer

A logic analyzer is software or hardware for recording and decoding digital signals, although it is mostly used for debugging—much like JTAG ports, hackers can use logic analyzers to execute logical attacks. They do this by connecting the analyzer to a debugging interface on the target device and reading the data transmitted across the circuitry. Often, doing this will open a debugging console, the bootloader, or kennel logs. With this access, the attacker looks for firmware errors they can exploit to gain backdoor access to the device.

5. Replacing Components

Photo of Boys Fiddling with a Computer

Most devices are programmed to specifically work with proprietary firmware, physical components, and software. But, sometimes, they work with cloned or generic components just as well. This is a vulnerability that hackers often exploit. Usually, this involves replacing the firmware or a physical component—like in the Nintendo Switch modding.

Of course, device manufacturers hate this and install tamperproof measures that cause attempts at hardware hacking to brick the device. Apple is especially infamous for throwing tantrums when regular customers open or tinker with their hardware, even if it’s to repair a broken device. You can brick your Apple device if you replace a component with one that is not MFI (Made for iPhone, iPad, and iPod). Nevertheless, tamperproof measures will not stop a creative hacker from finding a flaw and modifying the device.

6. Extracting the Memory Dump

Memory dumps are files that contain data or logs of the errors that occur when a program or device stops working. Windows computers create dump files when the OS crashes. Developers can then use these files to investigate the reasons for the crash in the first place.

But you don’t have to be a developer working for big tech to understand or analyze dumps. There are open-source tools that anyone can use to extract and read dump files. For a user with some technical know-how, the data from dump files is enough to find the problem and figure out a solution. But for a hacker, dump files are troves that can help them discover vulnerabilities. Hackers often use this method in LSASS dumping or Windows credentials stealing.

Should You Be Worried About Hardware Hacking?

Not really, especially if you’re a regular user of a device. Hardware hacking for malicious purposes carries a high risk for the attacker. Besides leaving a trail that could result in criminal or civil liabilities, it is also expensive: the tools aren’t cheap, the procedures are delicate, and they take time. So, unless the reward is high, an attacker would not target a random person’s hardware.

Hardware manufacturers, on the other hand, have to worry about the possibility of such hacks uncovering trade secrets, violating intellectual property, or exposing their customers’ data. They need to preempt hacks, push regular firmware updates, use resilient components, and set tamperproof measures.