167. Hardware Vulnerabilities

Hardware Vulnerabilities

Security flaws or weaknesses inherent in a device’s physical components or design that can be exploited to compromise the integrity, confidentiality, or availability of the system and its data

Hardware Vulnerabilities sources

Device’s firmware

End-of-life hardware

Legacy Hardware

unsupported systems and apps

Unpatched systems

Hardware misconfigurations

Firmware

Specialized form of software stored on hardware device, like a router or smart thermostat, that provides low-level control for the device’s specific hardware

End-of-life Systems

Hardware or software products that have reached the end of their life cycle

Legacy Systems

Outdated computing software, hardware, or technologies that have been largely superseded by newer and more efficient alternatives

Unsupported Systems

Hardware or software products that no longer receive official technical support, security updates, or patches from their respective vendors or developers

Unpatched System

Device, app, or piece of software that has not been updated with the latest security patches so that it remains vulnerable to known exploits and attacks

Hardware Misconfiguration

Occurs when a device’s settings, parameters, or options are not optimally set up, and this can cause vulnerabilities to exist, a decrease in performance, or unintended behavior of devices or systems

Hardening

Involves tightening the security of a system

Patching

Involves the regular updating of the software, firmware, and applications with the latest security patches

Configuration Enforcement

Used to ensure that all devices and systems adhere to a standard secure configuration

Decommissioning

Means that the system is retired and removed from the network

Isolation

Used to limit the potential damage that might occur from a potential security breach

Segmentation

Used to divide the network into segments