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Dead Drops: what to do if you see a USB stick sticking out of a wall

theguardian.com

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Re: Dead Drops: what to do if you see a USB stick sticking out of a wall

#21

Post by haiman »

adventureloop wrote: post #13
driverdan wrote: post #9

If I wanted to do something like this I'd create open WiFi access points called something like "DeadDrop". They wouldn't be connected to the internet. Instead they'd forward you to a locally hosted site that let you download and upload from local storage. WiFi has a lot of advantages. You eliminate the risk of USB attacks, physical damage to the device, and the actual location is unknown. The downside is that it woul…

The Pirate Box[1] firmware is the perfect thing for this. The problem is finding power to keep the box running, but with wifi, you can hide the box somewhere out of site. I have always thought it would be cool to set up a piratebox somewhere running from a solar panel. Then in daylight hours the dead drop would be there, but it would be gone at night. [1]: http://piratebox.cc/

What is the Piratebox

Re: Dead Drops: what to do if you see a USB stick sticking out of a wall

#22

Post by speakeron »

yk wrote: post #14
speakeron wrote: post #6

Not a good idea. This risks getting owned from the BadUSB exploit.

Is BadUSB possible with any USB stick? ( Or is this only a risk if a modified USB stick was installed in the first place?)

The firmware on a USB peripheral normally isn't write-protected, so it's possible to infect an existing stick.

Re: Dead Drops: what to do if you see a USB stick sticking out of a wall

#24

Post by onion2k »

tach4n wrote: post #18
speakeron wrote: post #6

Not a good idea. This risks getting owned from the BadUSB exploit.

In the article it's said that's explicitly part of the idea - it's supposed to be dangerous.

It's supposed to appear dangerous. The first time anything actually dangerous happened the user would immediately stop using them. Or worse, they'll end up in prison. Copying a random zip file of the Anarchist's Cookbook on to your PC will get you a few hours of questioning by the police and a caution not to be so stupid as to be a pretend spy again; why you downloaded an archive of several thousand child porn pictures is quite a bit harder to explain away as a bit of fun.

Re: Dead Drops: what to do if you see a USB stick sticking out of a wall

#25

Post by will_brown »

The article mentions USB attacks/exploits...but even more dangerous would be child pornography,at least in the US such a crime does not require intent (as automatic as it gets in a criminal context) simply being in possession or even constructive possession would lead to a conviction and a lifetime registration on the sexual offender list.

Re: Dead Drops: what to do if you see a USB stick sticking out of a wall

#26

Post by freehunter »

MaximillianII wrote: post #7
freehunter wrote: post #5

A more surreptitious spy would have a piece of hardware that can manipulate a USB drive without needing a full laptop. Any small USB host would do, from an old MP3 player to a Sony PSP.

Tutorial? :)

Well you just need to find a piece of hardware that acts as a USB host. The Raspberry Pi mentioned above would work, but you'd need a keyboard/screen or scripts to do it automatically. With the right hardware (even a rooted Android phone), you would be able to see the USB drive as just more removable storage just like your PC would.

Tutorial:

1) Have hardware that acts as a USB host

2) Work with the files just like you would on your PC

3) That's all there is to it

Re: Dead Drops: what to do if you see a USB stick sticking out of a wall

#27

Post by adolph »

driverdan wrote: post #9

If I wanted to do something like this I'd create open WiFi access points called something like "DeadDrop". They wouldn't be connected to the internet. Instead they'd forward you to a locally hosted site that let you download and upload from local storage. WiFi has a lot of advantages. You eliminate the risk of USB attacks, physical damage to the device, and the actual location is unknown. The downside is that it woul…

I've often wondered about how much power it would take to run a wireless SD card (enough to be solar powered?) and how the software could be extended to allow uploads.

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=117&cp_id=11709&cs_id=...

See previous commentary: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6195627

Re: Dead Drops: what to do if you see a USB stick sticking out of a wall

#28

Post by freehunter »

This is a meta comment, but does it seem like this post is attracting a more-than-usual amount of new posters? Maybe the site in general is getting more popular, I don't know, but on ~30 comments, there are four useless comments from green accounts, and the submitter is a green account. Just seems to be more than average.

Re: Dead Drops: what to do if you see a USB stick sticking out of a wall

#29

Post by martin-adams »

driverdan wrote: post #9

If I wanted to do something like this I'd create open WiFi access points called something like "DeadDrop". They wouldn't be connected to the internet. Instead they'd forward you to a locally hosted site that let you download and upload from local storage. WiFi has a lot of advantages. You eliminate the risk of USB attacks, physical damage to the device, and the actual location is unknown. The downside is that it woul…

I wonder if you could use Bluetooth Low Energy instead of WiFi as the power saving can last years. iBeacons have the potential to last years on a single battery. Probably not ideal for transferring large amounts of information though.

Re: Dead Drops: what to do if you see a USB stick sticking out of a wall

#30

Post by wyager »

onion2k wrote: post #24
tach4n wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the article it's said that's explicitly part of the idea - it's supposed to be dangerous.

It's supposed to appear dangerous. The first time anything actually dangerous happened the user would immediately stop using them. Or worse, they'll end up in prison. Copying a random zip file of the Anarchist's Cookbook on to your PC will get you a few hours of questioning by the police and a caution not to be so stupid as to be a pretend spy again; why you downloaded an archive of several thousand child porn pictur…

> Copying a random zip file of the Anarchist's Cookbook on to your PC will get you a few hours of questioning

Not in the US. I could download a hundred copies from every sketchy warez site on the internet without violating any laws.

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