Yes, that’s right. A security researcher by the name of Charlie Miller found the breach within Apple’s laptop microcontroller chips. They are shipped with a default password that if discovered, can be used to hold malware, disable the battery, or blowing it up.
“These batteries just aren’t designed with the idea that people will mess with them,” Miller said. “What I’m showing is that it’s possible to use them to do something really bad.”
Miller was able to permanently disable several batteries and rewrite the chip firmware. He says a mischievous person could install malware on the chip to infect the Macbook, steal data, and completely control it.
Here are some tips to avoid problems.
–Only accept installs or updates that you’ve researched or scanned with security software.
–Never trust spam email.
–Be very wary of pop-up windows that suggest an update.
–Stay away from illegal file-sharing services.
According to Miller, most users should not be overly concerned about a hacker taking over their laptop battery.
