VR Headset Ransomware Attack Vulnerability
Majd Z. Tahat, William Bradley Glisson, Baker Al Smadi · 2024
Virtual Reality (VR) Head Mounted Displays (HMD), also called VR headsets, are breaching barriers that previously held back widespread adoption and usage. The escalation in usage prompts the idea that standalone HMD units can become malware targets. This work explores the applicability of Android ransomware to the Oculus Quest 2's attack surface. To test the environment ten families of Android ransomware samples were applied along with a proof-of-concept ransomware sample that was developed for this research. All experiments are compared through malware execution on Oculus Quest-2. Observed ransomware sample behavior is compared to the expected behavior of each ransomware sample family, as well as to the derived ransomware definition. Ransomware sample success is evaluated based on expected behavior and the ability of the samples to execute definitional ransomware traits. The research indicates that the Oculus Quest 2's attack surface contains the necessary aspects for the successful execution of ransomware.