Hacked? Go Back In Time To Protect Yourself

If a hacker gets control of your computer’s operating system (OS), you’re hosed. The OS basically gives them control over everything. But researchers have now come up with a nifty combo of hardware and software that effectively lets you go back in time if you’re hacked – re-setting the OS to its happier, pre-attack condition (but with the wisdom to not fall for the same attack again).

An NC State University team, led by researcher Yan Solihin, have developed a system that takes “snapshots” of the OS at strategic points in its operation. When an attack is identified, the OS jumps back to its last “healthy” snapshot and erases everything that has happened since then.

To make sure that the OS doesn’t fall for the same trick twice, the system includes a security fault isolation component – which identifies the source of the attack and makes sure the OS is no longer vulnerable to attacks from that application.

The system is viable because it doesn’t significantly slow down operating speeds. The researchers developed hardware that allows the OS to incorporate the new “survivability” system more efficiently – taking up less than 5 percent of the OS operating overhead.

The research will be presented at the IEEE International Symposium on High-Performance Computer Architecture in San Antonio, Feb. 16.

I like the idea of a system that would render such attacks relatively harmless, caught somewhere in time.