Typing on a computer keyboard. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – A researcher at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) has developed a new method that provides “virtually 100 percent protection against cyberattacks launched through internet video or images,” the university said.

Regarding the technological threat that BGU’s technique seeks to resolve, Prof. Ofer Hadar, chair of the university’s Department of Communication Systems Engineering, said that “any downloaded or streamed video or picture is a potential vehicle for a cyberattack. Hackers like videos and pictures because they bypass the regular data transfer systems of highly secure systems, and there is significant space in which to implant malicious code.”

Hadar’s remedy for cyber-related vulnerabilities, dubbed “The Coucou Project,” involves using a series of algorithms to completely disable hackers from infiltrating systems through video or pictures and extracting data. The professor’s technique entails combating steganography, which BGU described as “a process that involves hiding a message in an appropriate carrier, such as an image file.”

The Israeli researcher envisions antivirus companies implementing the Coucou protection system in their applications and products. Defending against such infiltration has become a high-profile issue in light of recent allegations by the whistleblowing organization WikiLeaks that America’s CIA hacked into “smart” devices in civilians’ homes.