Hi guys,
I have a rather unusual question for you. My friend owns a late-2013 MBP which has been infected with some pretty sophisticated malware. We've replaced the SSD with a fresh one and reinstalled Catalina to no avail, so it seems the motherboard itself has been compromised. I've also tried resetting the firmware, NVRAM, and SMC but it still persists. I guess once malware has gotten in at the hardware level it's able to prevent it's own removal.
So my question - in which parts of the motherboard would something like this be able to hide? Is it technically/economically feasible to swap out these parts in order to avoid buying a replacement motherboard? Is there anything else I should try before resorting to this?
I've asked this question elsewhere and have been met with incredulity, but we're 100% sure of the presence of the malware. It's sort of an odd story... she has a friend who is a security researcher and he infected her machine as a sort of gag. Each time we've tried to remove it he's been able to prove that he can still monitor her activity. He thinks it's hilarious but it's really driving her crazy.
Thanks in advance for your advice!
Model details:
I have a rather unusual question for you. My friend owns a late-2013 MBP which has been infected with some pretty sophisticated malware. We've replaced the SSD with a fresh one and reinstalled Catalina to no avail, so it seems the motherboard itself has been compromised. I've also tried resetting the firmware, NVRAM, and SMC but it still persists. I guess once malware has gotten in at the hardware level it's able to prevent it's own removal.
So my question - in which parts of the motherboard would something like this be able to hide? Is it technically/economically feasible to swap out these parts in order to avoid buying a replacement motherboard? Is there anything else I should try before resorting to this?
I've asked this question elsewhere and have been met with incredulity, but we're 100% sure of the presence of the malware. It's sort of an odd story... she has a friend who is a security researcher and he infected her machine as a sort of gag. Each time we've tried to remove it he's been able to prove that he can still monitor her activity. He thinks it's hilarious but it's really driving her crazy.
Thanks in advance for your advice!
Model details:
- MacBook Pro 15-Inch "Core i7" 2.3 Late 2013 (DG)
- MacBookPro11,3 / A1398
