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Great, now your DSLR camera can be hit by ransomware attacks

The ransomware encrypts photos on the DSLR’s SD card and keeps them encrypted until the owner pays a ransom.

Great, now your DSLR camera can be hit by ransomware attacks

[Photo: Mario Calvo/Unsplash]

BY Michael Grothaus1 minute read

It seems not a single device is immune from hackers these days, including the DSLR camera, which generally has no internet connection. But as researchers at Check Point Software noticed, a flaw in the Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) some DSLR cameras use to wirelessly transfer photos could be used to install malware that could encrypt those photos—and keep them encrypted unless the camera’s owner agrees to pay a ransom.

In a test confirming the exploit, the researchers set up a Wi-Fi access point. Once a Canon EOS 80D camera joined that wireless access point, the researchers were able to remotely install the malware on it. That malware immediately sought out the camera’s SD card and went to work on encrypting its contents. The owner of the camera would then see a message alerting them that they wouldn’t get access to the photos again until a ransom was paid.

Check Point points out that DSLR cameras are a clever attack target because photos often contain personal and sentimental value for the owner. Though Check Point’s research only examined the flaw in Canon cameras, cameras from other manufacturers could be affected as well. Canon has since issued a new security patch for the affected cameras, which owners can read about here.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Grothaus is a novelist and author. He has written for Fast Company since 2013, where he's interviewed some of the tech industry’s most prominent leaders and writes about everything from Apple and artificial intelligence to the effects of technology on individuals and society. Michael’s current tech-focused areas of interest include AI, quantum computing, and the ways tech can improve the quality of life for the elderly and individuals with disabilities More


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