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).
Hmm. The biggest order came from an address in Chappaqua.
Hitlery would have loved this.
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Now that is Hillary-ous.
‘A device that can destroy a PC in seconds’
Sounds like they may have a marketing problem.
I just found out that Intel is investing a great deal of time and $$$ addressing USB security.
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.
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.
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.
Lightning destroyed my laptop last week, surge protector and all.
I don’t understand stuff like this.
I figure I can destroy my computer myself.
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.
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.
Agreed
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.
“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.
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