The FBI and tech expert Kurt the CyberGuy are issuing an urgent warning about a troubling new form of cyberattack—one involving so-called “time-traveling hackers.”
While this doesn’t involve literal time travel, the threat is very real. Hackers are now manipulating internal system clocks to bypass modern cybersecurity defenses.
What Are “Time-Traveling Hackers”?
The phrase “time-traveling hackers” describes a cyberattack technique that allows threat actors to manipulate a device’s system clock.
By setting a device’s date back to a time when expired security certificates were still valid, attackers can reactivate malicious software as if it were trusted.
This tactic was used in attacks by the Medusa ransomware gang, a group notorious for targeting critical infrastructure.
Kurt the CyberGuy explained in an article published on April 27 that this method is particularly insidious because it allows outdated, signed malware to pass through defenses like Windows Defender, simply by tricking the system into thinking it’s operating in the past.
