KoolSpan U: Weekly Word Wednesday – Stack Smashing

In a computer application or operating system, a stack, also known as a pushdown stack, is a last-in-first-out (LIFO) data structure that acts as a buffer that holds information from an operation that is awaiting processing. If the stack receives more data than it can hold, it overflows and the excess data is lost. This can be a huge problem for the device owner as some of this data may be critical to system operation and stack smashing can crash the device.

A skilled hacker can therefore corrupt or change critical data in a system by deliberately introducing too much data into the stack, wreaking havoc on a systems data. Hardware encryption can be used to thwart such attacks by providing more security than its software-only counterparts, and Koolspan’s TrustChip is a malleable hardware option for individuals and enterprises looking to protect their information.

Francis Knott

Francis Knott has over 17 years of mobility, technology, interactive media, software and healthcare experience. Mr Knott is an expert at building companies, growing revenue and launching and marketing new products. In the past, he has worked in software and product development, mobile social media, and mobile applications development.