{"id":4421,"date":"2025-05-22T17:11:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T01:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/?post_type=ht_kb&#038;p=4421"},"modified":"2025-05-22T17:28:06","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T01:28:06","slug":"what-is-firmware-malware","status":"publish","type":"ht_kb","link":"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/art\/what-is-firmware-malware\/","title":{"rendered":"What is firmware malware?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Firmware malware<\/strong> is <a href=\"\/security-center\/malware.html\">malicious code<\/a> that infects a device\u2019s <em>firmware<\/em>\u2014the low-level software that controls hardware components like the BIOS, UEFI, routers, or hard drives. Unlike regular malware, it hides beneath the operating system, making it <em>extremely hard to detect or remove<\/em>. It can survive reboots, system reinstalls, and even some antivirus scans.<\/p>\n<p>Attackers use firmware malware for <em>long-term, stealthy access<\/em> to devices, often in high-value targets like government systems or critical infrastructure. Well-known examples include <strong>LoJax<\/strong> and <a href=\"\/security-center\/virus-information\/moonbounce-rootkit.html\"><strong>MoonBounce<\/strong><\/a>, which show how firmware attacks can be part of <em>advanced, persistent threats<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h4>Is firmware malware always a rootkit type of malware?<\/h4>\n<p><strong>No, firmware malware is not always a rootkit\u2014but it often behaves like one.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the breakdown:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A <a href=\"\/security-center\/rootkit.html\"><strong>rootkit<\/strong><\/a> is a type of malware designed to hide its presence and maintain privileged access.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Firmware malware<\/strong> lives in the firmware layer, below the operating system, and often has the <em>same stealthy goals<\/em>\u2014which is why many firmware attacks <em>include rootkit functionality<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, <strong>not all firmware malware<\/strong> needs to hide. Some are designed just to <strong>brick devices<\/strong>, inject <strong>persistent spyware<\/strong>, or enable <a href=\"\/faq\/art\/what-is-surveillanceware\/\"><strong>surveillance<\/strong><\/a>, without necessarily disguising themselves.<\/p>\n<p>So while firmware malware <em>often includes rootkit-like behavior<\/em>, especially in advanced threats, the two terms aren\u2019t interchangeable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Firmware malware is malicious code that infects a device\u2019s firmware\u2014the low-level software that controls hardware components like the BIOS, UEFI, routers, or hard drives. Unlike regular malware, it hides beneath the operating system, making it extremely hard to detect or remove. It can survive reboots, system reinstalls, and even some antivirus scans. Attackers use firmware [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"ht-kb-category":[509],"ht-kb-tag":[570,572,571,573],"class_list":["post-4421","ht_kb","type-ht_kb","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","ht_kb_category-malware","ht_kb_tag-firmware-malware","ht_kb_tag-lojax","ht_kb_tag-moonbounce","ht_kb_tag-rootkit"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is firmware malware?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn what firmware malware is, how it works, and whether it&#039;s always a rootkit. Understand its risks and role in advanced, stealthy cyberattacks.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.antivirusaz.com\/faq\/art\/what-is-firmware-malware\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is firmware malware?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn what firmware malware is, how it works, and whether it&#039;s always a rootkit. 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