Can a Switch Pro controller transfer virus to Switch?

[Living Shadow]

Hello, can I ask a question because I am bit worried. I don't know if you can answer it thought,maybe it is irrelevant with the topics. I connected my Switch Pro Controller to Steam and I have never tested my PC for viruses or something. Then I connected it back to Switch without thinking that? Is it possible for a apro controller to get "infected", and the transfer the virus on switch? Also if the switch gets a virus(hypothetically) can it ruin my game cartridges If I use them to play on the "infected" system?

[Omega]

If the controller's firmware can be flashed, possibly.

Will this ever happen? No. This will require a piece of very sophisticated malware which very specifically targets the switch controller.

There are a few obstacles which have to be overcome first;

• It will first have to infect your PC. (This is the easy part knowing the average user).
  
• The fact that your PC, the controller and switch all use radically different hardware architectures and operating systems. The malware will have to run on Windows, then spread to an (ARM-based?) controller and then to a ARM Nvidia Tegra running something *BSD-based.
  
• The tons of DRM running on the switch which prevents unauthorized tweaking and hacking of the device. Older switches have an exploit which is used by modders to run homebrew on these devices, this has been fixed in newer switches. No new exploit for this has been found since then, there is currently no way to run unauthorized software on the Switch consoles made in the last 2-3 years.

Also, people who make malware will have something better to do then write useless programs which brick controllers and delete your save games on the switch.

[nullable]

I wouldn't worry about that. I mean that's a pretty specific fear and requires a lot of hoops to jump through for it to be plausible.

And while I'm sure someone "helpful" will be tempted to post about how it's not absolutely impossible I'd be more worried about being murdered by a friend or family member or struck by lightning. More more realistic concerns, relatively speaking.

[Living Shadow]

Originally posted by Omega:

If the controller's firmware can be flashed, possibly.

Will this ever happen? No. This will require a piece of very sophisticated malware which very specifically targets the switch controller.

There are a few obstacles which have to be overcome first;

• It will first have to infect your PC. (This is the easy part knowing the average user).
  
• The fact that your PC, the controller and switch all use radically different hardware architectures and operating systems. The malware will have to run on Windows, then spread to an (ARM-based?) controller and then to a ARM Nvidia Tegra running something *BSD-based.
  
• The tons of DRM running on the switch which prevents unauthorized tweaking and hacking of the device. Older switches have an exploit which is used by modders to run homebrew on these devices, this has been fixed in newer switches. No new exploit for this has been found since then, there is currently no way to run unauthorized software on the Switch consoles made in the last 2-3 years.

Also, people who make malware will have something better to do then write useless programs which brick controllers and delete your save games on the switch.

OH OK that makes more sense, thanks for answering. Another question? If there was (hypothetically) a virus like that, would my free anti virus be able to detect it and terminate it? And a last one, you said about ARM based controller. You mean if the controller contains memory and transfer it on switch somehow?

[Living Shadow]

Originally posted by Brockenstein:

I wouldn't worry about that. I mean that's a pretty specific fear and requires a lot of hoops to jump through for it to be plausible.

And while I'm sure someone "helpful" will be tempted to post about how it's not absolutely impossible I'd be more worried about being murdered by a friend or family member or struck by lightning. More more realistic concerns, relatively speaking.

So you are saying the odds of that are less than getting 3 lotteries in a row?

[Omega]

Originally posted by Johnny:

Originally posted by Brockenstein:

I wouldn't worry about that. I mean that's a pretty specific fear and requires a lot of hoops to jump through for it to be plausible.

And while I'm sure someone "helpful" will be tempted to post about how it's not absolutely impossible I'd be more worried about being murdered by a friend or family member or struck by lightning. More more realistic concerns, relatively speaking.

So you are saying the odds of that are less than getting 3 lotteries in a row?

Currently yes, because currently it's impossible AND nobody will ever do something this stupid..

Originally posted by Johnny:

Originally posted by Omega:

If the controller's firmware can be flashed, possibly.

Will this ever happen? No. This will require a piece of very sophisticated malware which very specifically targets the switch controller.

There are a few obstacles which have to be overcome first;

• It will first have to infect your PC. (This is the easy part knowing the average user).
  
• The fact that your PC, the controller and switch all use radically different hardware architectures and operating systems. The malware will have to run on Windows, then spread to an (ARM-based?) controller and then to a ARM Nvidia Tegra running something *BSD-based.
  
• The tons of DRM running on the switch which prevents unauthorized tweaking and hacking of the device. Older switches have an exploit which is used by modders to run homebrew on these devices, this has been fixed in newer switches. No new exploit for this has been found since then, there is currently no way to run unauthorized software on the Switch consoles made in the last 2-3 years.

Also, people who make malware will have something better to do then write useless programs which brick controllers and delete your save games on the switch.

OH OK that makes more sense, thanks for answering. Another question? If there was (hypothetically) a virus like that, would my free anti virus be able to detect it and terminate it? And a last one, you said about ARM based controller. You mean if the controller contains memory and transfer it on switch somehow?

ARM is the architecture. Your desktop PC is x86_64 (AMD64).

The controller most likely does have a small piece of flash memory on-board, but the device will not allow unauthorized access to it. It might not even be accessable through software. And the chip might even go to extremes such as killing itself when you try to read/write to it.

Your free AV likely does more harm then then most malware does. Many AV programs are spyware.

[Living Shadow]

Originally posted by Omega:

Originally posted by Johnny:

So you are saying the odds of that are less than getting 3 lotteries in a row?

Currently yes, because currently it's impossible AND nobody will ever do something this stupid..

Originally posted by Johnny:

OH OK that makes more sense, thanks for answering. Another question? If there was (hypothetically) a virus like that, would my free anti virus be able to detect it and terminate it? And a last one, you said about ARM based controller. You mean if the controller contains memory and transfer it on switch somehow?

ARM is the architecture. Your desktop PC is x86_64 (AMD64).

The controller most likely does have a small piece of flash memory on-board, but the device will not allow unauthorized access to it. It might not even be accessable through software. And the chip might even go to extremes such as killing itself when you try to read/write to it.

Your free AV likely does more harm then then most malware does. Many AV programs are spyware.

My PC I think is 64 bit if that's the same thing.Also my switch is from first day, but you talk about software not hardware correct?You mean I should delete avast? What anti virus should I use?

[_I_]

or if the controller has flash ram like the wii or xbone, that saves profile/settings
then it could possible transfer a potential virus to the other consoles/pc it connects to

[Living Shadow]

Can i use my controller here to play safely without worrying?

[Omega]

Originally posted by Johnny:

Can i use my controller here to play safely without worrying?

Even you with physical access to the Switch can not install anything on it. I doubt a programmer making joke malware without physical access to the machine can do any better (Or is willing to spend the next 6 months looking for an exploit to use).

Going from a PC to a controller to a handheld gaming console is undoable. And there is no gain in doing so.

These are wild fantasies which are not based on reality.

Originally posted by Johnny:

Originally posted by Omega:

Currently yes, because currently it's impossible AND nobody will ever do something this stupid..


ARM is the architecture. Your desktop PC is x86_64 (AMD64).

The controller most likely does have a small piece of flash memory on-board, but the device will not allow unauthorized access to it. It might not even be accessable through software. And the chip might even go to extremes such as killing itself when you try to read/write to it.

Your free AV likely does more harm then then most malware does. Many AV programs are spyware.

My PC I think is 64 bit if that's the same thing.Also my switch is from first day, but you talk about software not hardware correct?You mean I should delete avast? What anti virus should I use?

Windows Defender and common sense. That is all you need, and you should run ad and tracker blockers in your browser, non-malware ones such as Ublock Origin and Privacy Badger.

[nullable]

Originally posted by Johnny:

My PC I think is 64 bit if that's the same thing.Also my switch is from first day, but you talk about software not hardware correct?You mean I should delete avast? What anti virus should I use?

I wouldn't worry about any of it.

Specifically as far as the AV goes. Everyone tends to have "opinions" about AV's that they're not qualified to spread. So I'd be careful about listening to every dude who opens his mouth about the subject. Although if you still have questions you're free to revisit the AV question whenever you want and read some reviews about the current crop of free AV's and switch to whatever seems to have a decent consensus.

Or you could just run Microsoft's Security Essentials Windows Defender as an option, although people will still grumble about that if you mention it out loud.

A few things are really consistent in the PC community and have been for the last twenty years (at a minimum) and it's 95% emotional nonsense.

1. Complaining about AVs.
   
2. Complaining how much RAM web browsers use.
   
3. Poopooing sub-optimal hardware configurations and crying about bottlenecks

Originally posted by Johnny:

Can i use my controller here to play safely without worrying?

Yes.

[Omega]

Originally posted by Brockenstein:

Specifically as far as the AV goes. Everyone tends to have "opinions" about AV's that they're not qualified to spread. So I'd be careful about listening to every dude who opens his mouth about the subject. Although if you still have questions you're free to revisit the AV question whenever you want and read some reviews about the current crop of free AV's and switch to whatever seems to have a decent consensus.

I rather follow the advance from a single expert then a dozen clueless average consumers.

Originally posted by Brockenstein:

Or you could just run Microsoft's Security Essentials as an option, although people will still grumble about that if you mention it out loud.

"Clueless average consumers" detected, entering RANT mode...

MSE hasn't been updated in nearly half a decade, and Windows 10 ships with an anti-virus program. So why would you?

[nullable]

Yes, my memory misfired there. Windows Defender is what I was thinking of.