HP Printers Remotely Set on Fire? (VIDEO)
Research has shown that HP printers may catch fire remotely. According to research carried out by Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, Hewlett Packard LaserJet printers can be remotely heated up and destroyed, as reported by MSNBC.
HP printers Remotely Set on FireMSNBC reported that the piece was based on interviews with Salvatore Stolfo, who led his team of researchers investigating how HP printers could be hacked.
Stolfo told MSNBC: “The research on this is crystal clear. The impact of this is very large. These devices are completely open and available to be exploited.”
Get Our Latest News for FREE
According to MSNBC, printer hacks are difficult to fix because existing antivirus solutions cannot scan software on an embedded printer chip.
Stolfo’s team showed how hackers can exploit the printers and send continuous commands to the printer, allowing it to heat up and smoke. Although the printer actually did not catch fire, researchers “believe other printers might be used as fire starters.”
News of HP printers catching fire spread throughout the internet and HP strongly refuted the claim by the middle of the day. They released a statement saying: "Today there has been sensational and inaccurate reporting regarding a potential security vulnerability with some HP LaserJet printers. Speculation regarding potential for devices to catch fire due to a firmware change is false."
However HP did admit that there is “a potential security vulnerability with some of its LaserJet printers” that are connected to the public Internet without a firewall. They said no customer has ever reported unauthorized access.
"In a private network, some printers may be vulnerable if a malicious effort is made to modify the firmware of the device by a trusted party on the network," HP said. "In some Linux or Mac environments, it may be possible for a specially formatted corrupt print job to trigger a firmware upgrade."
