New TrojPix Attack Leaks Data From Air-Gapped Systems via Video Cable Emissions
Researchers atĀ Shandong University Ā have shown a fast new way to pull data off computers that are cut off from every network. The technique, calledĀ TrojPix , tweaks on-screen pixels in ways the eye cannot see, so that the video cable carrying them radiates a faint radio signal a nearby receiver can decode. But TrojPix works only once malware is already on the target machine, so it is a way for stolen data to get out, not a way in. In the researchers' tests, TrojPix hit a peak throughput of 8.1 Mbps and reached as far as 208 meters, the two measured separately rather than together. Most air-gap covert channels crawl along at bits or kilobits per second; at 8.1 megabits, roughly a megabyte a second, TrojPix could move a 100 MB file in under two minutes. That turns the threat from leaking a password into moving whole files while the monitor looks switched off. Real-world range is another matter: a receiver still has to fight through walls, shielding, and noise. Th...
ī Jul 06, 2026