Windows device interface security

Abstract

This paper discusses both risks and mitigation strategies for risks and threats associated with physical device interfaces. To this end, a brief discussion of the I/O architecture found in the Microsoft Windows operating system is followed by a review of several classes of attacks possible using only external devices attached to standard device interfaces of host computers. Based on this analysis, a selection of possible countermeasures including the modification of the host operating system by wrapping the I/O mechanisms into a hardened protective layer is discussed.