Black Hat Europe 2013 Andy Davis: To dock or not to dock…
This paper will explore the issue of laptop docking stations being used as attack platforms as well as explaining a few simple techniques that can be used to mitigate the risks.
Laptop docking stations are attractive to organisations with semi-mobile workers as they enable users to connect their laptops to monitors, keyboard, mouse, network etc. without the need to plug and unplug lots of cables every day and are becoming widely used within organisations. However docking stations are also becoming an attractive target for attackers.
Docking stations allow access to the network and have access to all the ports on a laptop but are considered by most to be trusted devices but an attacker can exploit this trust to access potentially sensitive information.
In this paper we will demonstrate how attackers can use hardware implants to target network data, video, audio, keyboards and webcams through the docking station. Then cover detection techniques and simple steps that can be taken to prevent tampering.