A large hacking attack on Nvidia has resulted in many data being seized by hackers. Among them are certain certificates that could also pose a problem for many users. MeinMMO explains what this is all about and where you need to be careful.
What kind of hack is this? Nvidia became the victim of a ransomware attack a few days ago. According to reports from the group, data amounting to more than 1 TB were stolen from Nvidia’s servers. This includes information about the new graphics cards and other trade secrets.
The hack also resulted in code signatures falling into the hands of hackers. With this, these individuals could deploy malicious software and push this software onto unsuspecting users.
Malicious software could soon come with Nvidia signatures
What are these signatures? Developers give their software a certificate to make it fundamentally more secure. If you want to install a driver or other important software, Windows requires a certificate. If the certificate is not present, Windows refuses the installation or doesn’t even open the file at all.
Now here’s the problem: The hackers now have the ability, thanks to the hack, to supply software with an Nvidia certificate. Windows accepts the certificate and does not question where the software might originate. According to Techpowerup, there is already software in circulation with the forged certificate (via techpowerup.com).
This way, hackers can gain access to computers without users even noticing. These trojans, which can annoy you remotely, are also called Remote Access Trojans (RATs).
That’s why you should be careful: You could find fake Nvidia software on the internet in the future. If you are quickly looking for the right software or a user supposedly offers you the right download link, you should be cautious and always question such things, unless you already did so. Because the best protection on the internet is common sense.
Use the automatic update of GeForce Experience
This is how you can best protect yourself: The best way to protect yourself is to download the updates for your Nvidia software directly through the in-house tool “GeForce Experience”.
“GeForce Experience” is installed alongside the graphics driver unless you manually uninstalled the tool. You can use the tool to adjust your system’s performance for your games.
In addition, “GeForce Experience” offers you the option to automatically update your driver software. To do this, switch to the “Drivers” tab and then click the “Check for Updates” button. If there is new software for your graphics card, it will be automatically downloaded.
This is what happens if you’re not careful: You can also read on MeinMMO about what can happen if you use supposed software from the internet: Here, miners tried to circumvent the mining lock of the Nvidia graphics cards. But instead, the miners installed malicious software on their systems:
With a trick, miners want to earn more money, but instead, they end up with nasty malware
