A hacker and hardware modder named David Buchanan has just gained root access (highest administrative rights) on a laptop using only... a lighter, making the online community stop worrying about a new security vulnerability.
On his personal blog, Buchanan shared technical details of a 'fault injection' attack using electromagnetic waves.

He created bitflip errors in memory, thereby gaining root access by adding a small resistor and antenna to the computer's RAM module, combined with holding a lighter near this antenna.
This method requires direct intervention in the hardware and has a low success rate. However, this attack technique also shows a potential security vulnerability in electronic devices.
But this is not a cause for concern. According to Buchanan, this attack technique requires physical access to the device and highly specialized knowledge, making it difficult to apply in practice.
Buchanan said the goal of his experiment was to explore new attack vectors and warn of potential vulnerabilities, helping device manufacturers improve protection in the future. Buchanan is working on similar techniques for upcoming devices like the Nintendo Switch 2.
This isn’t the first time Buchanan has made headlines online. He previously compressed the entire works of Shakespeare into a tiny image and posted it on Twitter.