Thunderbolt bugs can expose your PC if you leave it alone with a hacker

Thunderbolt ports may put your PC in jeopardy, but only if you leave it alone with a capable and well-prepared hacker.

That's according to security researcher Björn Ruytenberg from the Eindhoven University of Technology, who outlined seven vulnerabilities in Thunderbolt, collectively called Thunderspy, in a recent paper (via Wired). The vulnerabilities are serious — a hacker who knows what they are doing could gain full access to data on a laptop that's locked and encrypted.

Laptops made before 2019 with Thunderbolt ports running Windows and Linux are vulnerable. Macs built before 2019 are a little safer, as an attacker would have to use another attack in conjunction with Thunderspy to gain access. The researcher claims the bugs cannot be fixed via a software update. Read more...

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