Flaw in Dell Software Leaves Computers Vulnerable to Hacks

Owners of Dell laptops might want to dust off the company’s bundled software update tool. There’s a critical update addressing a flaw that could allow an attacker to take over your system simply by sending you to a compromised website. Amusingly, the bug is in Dell’s own remote support tool that is supposed to help the company fix your laptop. In this case, it’s breaking things. That’s only slightly less bizarre than Asus pushing malware with its support tools.

The attack relies on tricking a user into visiting a particular website configured by the perpetrator. There, custom JavaScript fools the Dell software into running files of the attacker’s choosing. Someone could use this to steal data, install ransomware, or add the computer to a botnet. You can see a demo of the vulnerability in the video below.

There is at least a shred of good news. Your system is only vulnerable if the attacker is on the same local network where they can use ARP Spoofing. That’s not exactly an insurmountable task. Public Wi-Fi networks are a prime target, as are large corporate networks where someone can quietly plug in and launch an attack. A remote attacker may also be able to fool the SupportAssist tool by compromising a user’s router.

Dell issued the patch on April 23, but many users are probably conditioned to ignore popups and alerts from Dell’s bundled software — it’s usually not important. This is one of those times when you really need to update, though.

To its credit, Dell responded to the report by Demirkapi and took quick action to patch the vulnerability. SupportAssist v3.2.0.90 is available as a direct download on Dell’s site as well as a push installation via the company’s bundled software.

Continue reading

Google Will Officially Support Installing Chrome OS on Your Old Computer

Google has just acquired Neverware, and its CloudReady product is becoming an official Chrome OS offering.

Europe Plans 20,000 GPU Supercomputer to Create ‘Digital Twin’ of Earth

The plan to create a digital twin of Earth might end up delayed due to the relative lack of available GPUs, but this isn't going to be an overnight project.

IBM Ships Its First Quantum Computer Outside the United States

IBM has shipped its first quantum computer outside the United States. A second far-flung system is expected online in July.

Hubble In Safe Mode Again After Computer Failure [UPDATE]

The Hubble Space Telescope has been expanding the bounds of human knowledge for more than thirty years. That's not bad for an orbiting installation built in the 1980s that hasn't gotten a service mission in 12 years. Still, the hardware failures are piling up.