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Are VGA cables too "dumb" to spread malware from one device to another device?

Background: I'm giving a talk tomorrow, and the laptop I'm presenting on will be connected via VGA cable to another computer that'll be recording the presentation as well as passing the signal to a projector. Not that I have any reason to believe my computer or the other computer are likely to have viruses...

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How do you connect 2 pc's with a vga cable?? A pc usually doesn't have a vga-in. – fretje Dec 7 '09 at 10:59
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@Andrew, your profile says you analyse biological data. Sounds fascinating, but remember, the 'computer virus' metaphor can only be stretched so far. – pavium Dec 7 '09 at 11:54
@pavium when I talk about mutation testing to rails developers, they assume I'm talking about genetic diseases rather than unit testing because I'm a bioinformatician. – Andrew Grimm Dec 7 '09 at 22:27
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bwahahahahahaha. i guess if you can network 2 PCs with a VGA cable, you can certainly transfer viruses.... – quack quixote Jan 3 '10 at 18:01
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3 Answers

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No, they cannot be spread via VGA.

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Expanding on that, I'd like to say that the recording device is only receiving the video signal from your laptop. No actual harddrive data is being transmitted. – Travis Dec 7 '09 at 16:53
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In theory, yes, it might be possible for a display to exploit a weakness in the computer's display drivers via the DDC backlink. In parctice, I have never heard about such an exploit being used.

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Seems farfetched, but at one time viruses spreading via e-mail was a big joke amongst IT professionals since it was "impossible". Look at us now... – Brian Knoblauch Dec 7 '09 at 14:37
+1 Cool idea. Somebody should exploit it, seriously. – Tadeusz A. Kadłubowski Jan 3 '10 at 18:52
If this was a typically use case I'm sure we would see it, but since almost nobody does this I doubt we ever will. – heavyd Apr 10 '10 at 4:03
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up vote 1 down vote

The answer given by Toby is correct, under normal circumstances you would not be able to get a virus from a vga connection..... but this does given me an idea for a funny office prank.

Open up a dvi-vga adapter and incorporate a device that flashes the word virus on the screen for 2-5 frames every 5 minutes.

Instant Classic

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