A technique for detecting types of malware that use a system’s architecture to thwart traditional security measures has been developed by researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of Texas at Austin. The new detection approach works by tracking power fluctuations in embedded systems.

“Embedded systems are basically any computer that doesn’t have a physical keyboard – from smartphones to Internet of Things devices,” says Aydin Aysu, co-author of a paper on the work and an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State.