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USB Killer: A device that can destroy a PC in seconds
DECCAN CHRONICLE ^ | Published Sep 12, 2016, 12:02 pm IST

Posted on 09/12/2016 8:41:16 PM PDT by Swordmaker

A Hong Kong based manufacturer, USB Kill, recently developed a device that can annihilate any modern device there is.


The USB Killer is not a toy. Created by a manufacturer based in Hong Kong, USB Kill, it is thumb drive that destroys the physical components of any modern device that it is plugged into.

The thumb drive named USB Kill 2.0 is a testing device created to test USB ports against power surge attacks. How it works? It simply collects power from the USB power lines until it reaches a certain voltage (240V). Following which it discharges the stored voltage into the USB data lines. This cycle is rapid and repeated till the device can no longer discharge or in other words, the circuit of the machine is broken or destroyed.  

This device may come across as something that a villain from perhaps, a James Bond movie may use. However, the device is not created for evil purposes. According to the tests conducted by USB Kill, over 95 per cent of the devices are affected by a USB power surge attack. In fact, majority of these consumer-level hardware have failed when tested against the USB Kill. Hence, in order to protect the devices against malicious attacks, something like the USB Kill 2.0 is required that can quickly detect how exposed the USB ports are and ensure that the systems are well protected against electrical attacks.

Unfortunately, despite the increasing prominence USB Kill 2.0 has gained in the recent past, not many companies have taken that much interest in the same.

“To this day, according to our testing, the only company that releases hardware protected against a USB power-surge attack is Apple, on their Laptop and Desktop ranges. This means - despite adequate warning, and time to respond - the majority of consumer-level hardware manufacturers choose not to protect their customer's devices. We are disheartened by this lack of respect for customers,” said the organization.

The device is available on the company’s official website at 49,95 € (approximately 3,759 rupees).


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: applepinglist; safety; usbtester; windowspinglist
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1 posted on 09/12/2016 8:41:16 PM PDT by Swordmaker
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To: Swordmaker

Hmm. The biggest order came from an address in Chappaqua.


2 posted on 09/12/2016 8:43:40 PM PDT by Rastus (#NeverHillary #AlwaysTrump)
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To: Swordmaker

Hitlery would have loved this.


3 posted on 09/12/2016 8:44:03 PM PDT by grumpygresh (We don't have Democrats and Republicans, we have the Faustian uni-party)
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To: Swordmaker
Not to be confused with Phone Kill 1.0 - authorized by the Hillary Clinton campaign.


4 posted on 09/12/2016 8:45:12 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (If Muammar Gaddafi had donated to the Clinton Foundation he would still be alive and in power today.)
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To: dayglored; ThunderSleeps; ShadowAce; ~Kim4VRWC's~; 1234; 5thGenTexan; Abundy; Action-America; ...
A Hong Kong company makes a USB testing device that repeatedly increases the USB port by pushing higher and higher surges of voltage into the port until the device it is connected to is fried completely. The maker of that device has reported that the ONLY computers that are built to survive this destructive testing are made by Apple. — PING!


Apple Only Computer Maker
With Surge Protected USB Ports
Says Test Device Maker
Ping!

The latest Apple/Mac/iOS Pings can be found by searching Keyword "ApplePingList" on FreeRepublic's Search.

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me

5 posted on 09/12/2016 8:46:24 PM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: Rastus
Hmm. The biggest order came from an address in Chappaqua.

Now that is Hillary-ous.

6 posted on 09/12/2016 8:47:05 PM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue...)
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To: Swordmaker

‘A device that can destroy a PC in seconds’
Sounds like they may have a marketing problem.


7 posted on 09/12/2016 8:49:40 PM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives.)
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To: Swordmaker

I just found out that Intel is investing a great deal of time and $$$ addressing USB security.


8 posted on 09/12/2016 8:52:33 PM PDT by Zathras
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To: Swordmaker

This is basically a computer terrorist device. Clearly not marked in anyway. It should have skull and crossbones on it with a written warning. So I don’t buy the claim that it is intended for good purposes.

The modifications to the Mother board design to stop this attack are really very simple and cheap. I hope the manufacturers get on the ball.


9 posted on 09/12/2016 8:52:59 PM PDT by Revel
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To: grumpygresh
Hitlery would have loved this.

I came across an evil device on the Internet, right up her alley to use against foes. Terrorists have engineered USB sticks that contain C4 explosive, set to detonate when a user plugs it in to a power source like on a PC laptop. It's a bad world out there, folks. Even an Apple won't survive that. The device mentioned by the article above likely won't harm an Apple computer.

10 posted on 09/12/2016 8:55:06 PM PDT by roadcat
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To: All

Interesting. I have a link cable to plug my iphone into my laptop. The cable has a dead short in it and when I plug it in I get a popup from Windows 10 that it has disabled the port due to a power surge.

I unplug and restart and the USB port is good again.


11 posted on 09/12/2016 8:57:27 PM PDT by rockrr (Everything is different now...)
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To: tumblindice
Not really. They can create a protection device which they would sell gladly. This can start a steady revenue stream, perhaps a birth of new industry as we have seen in computer security software.
12 posted on 09/12/2016 8:57:55 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster (alt.current-events.clinton.whitewater)
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To: Swordmaker

Lightning destroyed my laptop last week, surge protector and all.


13 posted on 09/12/2016 8:59:20 PM PDT by ozzymandus
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To: TigerLikesRooster

I don’t understand stuff like this.
I figure I can destroy my computer myself.


14 posted on 09/12/2016 9:01:59 PM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives.)
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To: Revel
So I don’t buy the claim that it is intended for good purposes.

Any serious testing of USB ports' handling of high voltages would be done with externally powered devices capable of different voltages and pulse durations. Being powered by the USB port itself shows that it is meant for causing trouble.

15 posted on 09/12/2016 9:05:09 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (If Muammar Gaddafi had donated to the Clinton Foundation he would still be alive and in power today.)
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To: Swordmaker

There is no such thing as “stored voltage.” That’s just the reporter talking. Like most laymen, the “volt” is the only electrical unit he knows the name of.


16 posted on 09/12/2016 9:08:32 PM PDT by Arthur McGowan
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To: ozzymandus
I had some second-hand LCD monitor. It looked fine at first until I found that, every time my little fridge starts, it goes black and comes back. I figure that, when a fridge powers up, it must mess up power supply inside the monitor.
17 posted on 09/12/2016 9:14:54 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster (alt.current-events.clinton.whitewater)
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To: KarlInOhio

Agreed


18 posted on 09/12/2016 9:17:23 PM PDT by Revel
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To: TigerLikesRooster

I had an electrician tell me not to plug a fridge, even a mini-fridge, into a GFCI recepticle.
The compressor kicking on and off can trip it.


19 posted on 09/12/2016 9:20:53 PM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives.)
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To: Arthur McGowan

“There is no such thing as “stored voltage.””

Not sure what you mean. Voltage is the difference in potential that can cause current flow. Batteries and Capacitors store it. Also called a “Charge”.

I would say that this device would have to be a simple switching power supply storing a charge to a capacitor and then releasing it back through the 5V source.


20 posted on 09/12/2016 9:22:48 PM PDT by Revel
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