A security researcher has discovered a bug in the Mac Book. Security expert Charlie Miller, explained that the microcontroller that monitors the power level of Apple laptops can be compromised to run a malicious code on it. The researcher has found that the batteries’ microcontroller chips ship with default passwords. Once a hacker learns that password, they can learn to control the chips’ firmware and potentially hijack them. A hacker can well cause the laptop’s battery to explode.
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“These batteries just aren’t designed with the idea that people will mess with them,” Miller said. “What I’m showing is that it’s possible to use them to do something really bad.”
“You could put a whole hard drive in, reinstall the software, flash the BIOS, and every time it would reattack and screw you over. There would be no way to eradicate or detect it other than removing the battery.” said Miller.
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Miller plans to publicly disclose the flaw, and provide a fix at the Black Hat security conference in August.
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