Illinois Malicious Processor
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In Computer Science, the Illinois Malicious Processor (abbreviated IMP), or hidden malicious circuit, is a form of an electronic attack which is facilitated not by software (as in conventional spyware), but rather by the insertion of hidden circuits on the Central Processing Unit of the victim machine. These hidden circuits are designed to be invisible to the victim machine's operating system, making the detection and removal of the threat very difficult. The term IMP was coined by a team of researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in April of 2008.