A system built around a Raspberry Pi has been able to detect and identify computer viruses on other devices by reading their electromagnetic (EM) wave signatures.
The system was devised by a team of researchers from the Institute of Computer Science and Random Systems.
As well as the Raspberry Pi, a now-iconic UK-designed single-board computer, the system uses an oscilloscope and an H-field probe.
It is able to detect viruses running on other devices without having to install any additional software on that device.
The system is based on the fact that running software on a device generates unique EM wave patterns as the code is executed.
The researchers started by using the H-field probe, which is responsive to EM fields, to capture these wave patterns from a number of previously identified viruses running on a range of different devices.
These could be viewed on the oscilloscope and identified as belonging to different viruses.
The team was able to program the Raspberry Pi to recognise and identify individual wave patterns for the different viruses, essentially turning the system into a virus detector that does not need to be installed on the devices being scanned.
The H-field probe simply has to be placed near to the computer, tablet, smartphone or other device.
System can read and interpret EM waves emitted by other devices
It is then able to read the EM waves generated as codes and programs run on the device, while the Raspberry Pi interprets and identifies them.
The team found that the system was able to detect generic malware with a high accuracy rate of 99.82%, as well as identifying a benign type of virus.
The fact that the system can be used externally, without having to be installed on the device being tested, means that it is not affected by some techniques built into devices to prevent detection by standard anti-malware programs.
Despite this, it is unlikely to be sold directly to consumers for scanning home devices, but could well be used on servers and large applications.
Viruses and other malware continue to be a growing threat for consumers and businesses alike.
According to a survey carried out by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and IT company Cisco, one in 10 businesses in the UK fell victim to cyber-crime, with increased working from home believed to be an important factor.
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