Raspberry Pi Risks – A Friend or Foe?

Managing Raspberry Pi device risks is crucial when utilizing this small, inexpensive, and portable computer. Despite its ability to perform tasks similar to any regular computer, such as browsing the internet, playing high-definition videos, and handling word processing or spreadsheets, it’s important to recognize and mitigate potential security risks. Proper risk management ensures safe usage of Raspberry Pi, protecting it from vulnerabilities in various applications.

Initially designed for ethical purposes, the Raspberry Pi’s versatility makes it a popular choice for educational, personal, and industrial applications. However, it can be exploited for malicious purposes, such as cyberattacks and unauthorized access. Managing Raspberry Pi risks is vital to mitigate these threats and maintain robust security, especially in sensitive environments.

Raspberry Pi Device Risks and Security Challenges

PoisonTap

PoisonTap, designed for Raspberry Pi, creates a cascading effect by exploiting the inherent trust in various machine and network mechanisms, leading to extensive information exfiltration. It enables network access and installs semi-permanent backdoors.

P4wnP1

The P4wnP1 platform transforms a Raspberry Pi into a USB attack device, enabling harmful activities like keystroke injection and unauthorized system access. It can bypass security protocols and act as a rogue device in corporate networks.

Bypassing NAC

NAC software supports network visibility and access management through policy enforcement on devices and users of corporate networks. To bypass, an attacker must access a device that has already been authenticated. In other words, a genuine device must be spoofed, which can be done with a Raspberry Pi.
The authenticated device is used to log into the network which then smuggles network packets from the Raspberry Pi by overwriting the MAC address. Making it seem as if the packets are originating from the genuine, authenticated device. From here, the attacker has access to the organization’s network and can, consequently, move laterally through it. This can allow for a variety of potential attacks such as a data breach, malware installation or Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) attack.

Advanced Persistent Threats with Raspberry Pi

An Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) using a Raspberry Pi is a major security risk, particularly for government agencies and critical infrastructure. APTs, often linked to state-sponsored actors, allow hackers to infiltrate networks undetected, steal sensitive data, and potentially cause national security threats.

As cyberwarfare grows, it offers a low-cost, high-impact method for weaker states to harm stronger nations, making APTs a favored tactic for sabotage. These attacks exploit the vulnerabilities of connected systems, including the Raspberry Pi risks in both civilian and defense sectors.

Raspberry Pi Risks and IoT

The Raspberry Pi, with its computer-like capabilities, can control medical ventilators, adjusting air pressure, regulating valves, and determining breathing assistance levels. The Raspberry Pi Zero is ideal for this due to its low cost, portability, and ability to meet the low demands of ventilators, making it especially useful during critical times like a pandemic.

However, integrating Raspberry Pi into medical devices increases vulnerabilities, offering more entry points for attackers in the healthcare sector. As one of the most targeted industries, healthcare holds valuable data, like Personal Health Information (PHI), which can be sold for much higher prices than Personally Identifiable Information (PII). Despite urgent patient care needs, healthcare often overlooks cybersecurity, viewing it as an obstacle rather than a priority, making it a prime target for cybercriminals exploiting Raspberry Pi risks.

Raspberry Pi Risks in Network Security

The clandestine nature stands as one of the major risks associated with a Raspberry Pi device (Pi400 is it 100x safer than Pi4?). Its small physical size allows it to be discreetly embedded within peripherals or introduced into the network, evading human detection. When employed as a USB attack tool, security software solutions identify the device as a legitimate HID device. Thereby raising no alarms. When acting as a network implant, the device sits on the Physical Layer. Which these security software solutions do not cover. Thus, the device remains entirely unnoticed, and once more, it does not give rise to any security concerns.
This is, arguably, the greatest risk.

Hardware Security and Raspberry Pi Device Risks

Many times, enterprises’ IT and security teams struggle in providing complete and accurate visibility into their hardware assets. Especially in today’s extremely challenging IT/OT/IoT environment. This is due to the fact that often, there is a lack of visibility, which leads to a weakened policy enforcement of hardware access. This may result in security accidents, such as ransomware attacks, data leakage, etc.
To tackle this challenge, you need to achieve ultimate visibility into your hardware assets. Irrespective of their characteristics and the interface attackers use for connection. Moreover, it is important to be practical and adjust to the dynamic Cyber security defenses put in place to block them, as well as take advantage of the “blind” spots. Mainly through USB Human Interface Device (HID) emulating devices or Physical layer network implants.

The deep visibility layer is complemented by a comprehensive policy enforcement mechanism. It recommends best practices and allows administrators to define strict or granular rules for the system.

Managing Raspberry Pi Risks with Sepio

Sepio is the leader in the Rogue Device Mitigation (RDM) market and is disrupting the cybersecurity industry by uncovering hidden hardware attacks operating over network and USB interfaces. Sepio’s solution, identifies, detects and handles all peripherals; no device goes unmanaged.

The only company in the world to undertake Physical Layer Visibility fingerprinting, Sepio calculates a digital fingerprint using the device descriptors of all connected peripherals and compares them against a known set of malicious devices, automatically blocking any attacks. With Machine Learning, the software analyses device behavior to identify abnormalities, such as a mouse acting as a keyboard.

Complete Visibility of all Hardware Assets: With all devices and anomalies detected, enterprises benefit from a greater overall cybersecurity posture. Gaining full visibility of all hardware devices from endpoint peripherals to connected devices (IT/OT/IoT). Sepio uses unique physical layer hardware fingerprinting technology and data augmentation from endpoints and networks.

Full Control through Predefined Policies: Enterprise-wide policies enable compliance, regulation and best practices. With predefined templates and no baselining or whitelisting, and no requirement for a clean environment start, Sepio provides a fast and easy setup.

Rogue Device Mitigation (RDM): Threat mitigation upon discovery of rogue or threatening devices. Integrations with existing security platforms such as NACs and SOARs for mitigation and remediation enhancements.

Gain Complete Visibility into All Your Network Assets

Talk to an expert. It will help you understand how to use Sepio’s patented technology to gain control of your asset risks.