The school did a Q&A with him on FB, apparently long before the incident: https://facebook.com/saintrosegrad/posts/10154835183318203
Former student destroys 59 university computers using USB Killer device
61–70 of 224 posts
Re: Former student destroys 59 university computers using USB Killer device
#62Almost enough.
Re: Former student destroys 59 university computers using USB Killer device
#63Re: Former student destroys 59 university computers using USB Killer device
#64Someone brought this up in an older thread about this device..
Why use this? You could just use a hammer, or pour water into them. It seems bizarre that he paid money for this device when there are many completely free ways to trash a pc.
Re: Former student destroys 59 university computers using USB Killer device
#65I am looking at https://usbkill.com/ . What is the purpose of the device? The manufacturer calls it an "ESD tester" yet there is an "anonymous" version available: https://usbkill.com/products/usb-killer-v3?variant=447760856...
It may be designed for a cut and run approach. For example, about to crash in enemy territory, brick all the computers.
Re: Former student destroys 59 university computers using USB Killer device
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's just a piece of plastic. Very intricate, relatively expensive silly plastic. You are demanding blood and to trade off a huge chunk of human life for the silly piece of machinery (which he gonna pay fore anyway), are you feeling well, my friend?
It’s not about the computers. This individual has demonstrated he has no regard or respect for others property, and may very well go on to commit other more serious crimes if he gets away easily with this one. Others may also feel encouraged to imitate what he did if there are no serious repercussions.
The great thing is, he also flushed his future down the drain, at least outside of India (every visa application in the world asks you about past criminal convictions).
Or to use a more apt metaphor, he zapped his future into smoke.
Re: Former student destroys 59 university computers using USB Killer device
#67The school did a Q&A with him on FB, apparently long before the incident: https://facebook.com/saintrosegrad/posts/10154835183318203
> how long before it disappears
a while: http://web.archive.org/web/20190419041118/https://m.facebook...
Re: Former student destroys 59 university computers using USB Killer device
#68I am looking at https://usbkill.com/ . What is the purpose of the device? The manufacturer calls it an "ESD tester" yet there is an "anonymous" version available: https://usbkill.com/products/usb-killer-v3?variant=447760856...
From that page:
>Does not require batteries, can be be used an unlimited number of times.
So how does it work? How can it recharge all those capacitors?
Re: Former student destroys 59 university computers using USB Killer device
#69I am looking at https://usbkill.com/ . What is the purpose of the device? The manufacturer calls it an "ESD tester" yet there is an "anonymous" version available: https://usbkill.com/products/usb-killer-v3?variant=447760856...
"-200VDC is discharged over the data lines of the host device. This charge/discharge cycle is repeated many times per second, until the USB Killer is removed" Is there any device that is supposed to survive this? In other news, throwing your computer in a fire also reveals a serious vulnerability.
Ethernet will probably do fine. The differential pair ends in a transformer, so unless you pump so much current in that it physically melts the transformer or wire, you'll be fine. USB should be similar, but apparently is not. (In the case of the USB killer, the amount of time where 200V is applied to the circuit is probably very tiny. I imagine it's just a charge pump that charges a tiny capacitor and discharges it.)
Ethernet is designed this way because the differential pair can apparently pick up a bit of a DC bias when laid next to cables in the ceiling/wall. While researching this post, I found that the spec requires the transformer/inductor to work correctly with a 30mA bias current. I am too lazy to go measure what the DC resistance is, though, so I don't know whether or not 200V is close to that.
When I was in high school, I wired up a cat 5 cable such that each pair was connected to one phase of the mains. I then plugged it directly into my iMac. There was no damage to the computer and the Ethernet port worked fine afterwards as well. (The integrated monitor went crazy; this was in the CRT days and presumably the Ethernet transceiver's magnetics make a good degaussing coil).
Re: Former student destroys 59 university computers using USB Killer device
#70I am looking at https://usbkill.com/ . What is the purpose of the device? The manufacturer calls it an "ESD tester" yet there is an "anonymous" version available: https://usbkill.com/products/usb-killer-v3?variant=447760856...
"-200VDC is discharged over the data lines of the host device. This charge/discharge cycle is repeated many times per second, until the USB Killer is removed" Is there any device that is supposed to survive this? In other news, throwing your computer in a fire also reveals a serious vulnerability.
I vaguely recall the argument (maybe buried in the USBKill site) that manufacturers could ~easily limit maximum voltage across the data lines. Maybe using a resettable fuse? I know that Raspberry Pi limit USB input voltage to ~5V, for example.