Communications of the ACM
Popular Student Monitoring Software Could Have Exposed Thousands to Hacks
Hackers could have used a vulnerability in Netops software to install malware or ransomware on PCs, or gain access to their Webcams.
Credit: doble-d/iStock
The McAfee Enterprise Advanced Threat Research team found a bug in the Netop Vision Pro Education software used by about 3 million teachers and students in 9,000 school systems worldwide.
This marks the second time in less than a year that McAfee researchers have identified vulnerabilities in the software.
The researchers analyzed Netop's underlying code using the "fuzzing" technique, in which malformed data is used to cause a crash.
This uncovered a bug in the way digital images of students' screens are transmitted to teachers, with the potential for hackers to deploy malware and ransomware, access students' personal information, or take control of their webcams.
McAfee's Doug McKee and Steve Povolny said, "We do believe this bug is highly likely to be exploitable, and a determined attacker may be able to leverage the attack [to breach the system]."
From Fast Company
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