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USB Killer

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Re: USB Killer

#171

Post by CPLX »

BuildTheRobots wrote: post #134
CPLX wrote: post #131

This immediately reminded me of the slightly infamous and almost certainly apocryphal "box" of the phreaking era for supposedly overloading and destroying your adversary's phone, or even taking down the local POTS switch. It was called a urine box most commonly, or sometimes a copper box or assassin box if I recall correctly.

This [1] seems to indicate the urine box and the assassin box were actually different, even though they seemed to achieve similar results. I'd be curious to find circuit diagrams. [1] http://www.aboutphone.info/lib/phreak/boxes-2.html

Aha, that also reminded me of my favorite name for the thing, the Blotto Box.

Re: USB Killer

#173

Post by saganus »

cstross wrote: post #83

If you're feeling ornery,you could fly with one in your hand luggage. If the TSA or foreign equivalent border security want to scan your devices, it's their look-out.

And then you will probably be charged with trying to hack the U.S. Government and get like 1000 years of Guantanamo time.

Jokes aside... it would be interesting to see what would happen if someone had such nerve.

Re: USB Killer

#174

Post by BorisMelnik »

detaro wrote: post #166
BorisMelnik wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and of course label it " boss name personal" On that note, using it as a pentesting device could be interesting. Perhaps just use the "beep" so the auditor can see how many people trust putting anything into their PC, then at the end cite USB killer.

"loosing" USB sticks with a trojan that just phones home and deletes itself seems to be the usual way to do that in pentests.

interesting, didn't know that. see what happens people come up with innovative ideas all the time and have no idea they already exist!

Re: USB Killer

#175

Post by ptaipale »

DanBC wrote: post #160
ptaipale wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't ignore it; Schuko (CEE 7/3) plugs also keep earth connected while live and neutral pins are pulled out. Same is true for the French (CEE 7/5) and Danish (107-2-D1) designs.

That's when you pull the plug out of the socket. OP is talking about the failure mode when you pull the cable out of the plug - the live and neutral cables are shorter and tighter and will fail first, leaving the earth wire to fail last.

I didn't quite understand the whole concept. The idea in Schuko plugs is that you cannot pull the cable out of the plug. It's totally fixed (either inside solid plastic, or attached with a strain relief that fixes it).

edit: now that I think of it, Schuko plugs of the install-yourself kind where you can attach cable with a screwdriver (not solid plastic with the cable) are done so that the earth cable is longer than L/N are inside the casing.

Re: USB Killer

#176

Post by zyxley »

Smerity wrote: post #99
__m wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another option would be to just tell them and not play games with them.

Whilst an option, I feel it's a bad one if security is actually a priority. Having worked at companies who actually have a high level concern over computer security, telling someone simply isn't enough. Being told is passive. Passive defence and active defence are two entirely different states of mind. Defending against an attack needs to be active and instinctual. Every time you open, close, or set down your laptop,…

> One of the companies I worked at actually made a game out of leaving your terminal unlocked. I can tell you, after a few days of your colleagues kindly laughing at you returning to a screen full of Internet memes, you instinctively Ctrl + L upon standing up, even if it's to walk to the windows to look at the view.

This was unofficial but standard practice at a support center I once worked at. It was a terrible work environment for other reasons, but individual computer security was great because the new guys very rapidly learned that leaving a computer unlocked left you a prime target for background changes, YTMND pages hidden behind other windows, the Dell ctrl+alt+up thing, etc.

Re: USB Killer

#177

Post by Symbiote »

ptaipale wrote: post #175
DanBC wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's when you pull the plug out of the socket. OP is talking about the failure mode when you pull the cable out of the plug - the live and neutral cables are shorter and tighter and will fail first, leaving the earth wire to fail last.

I didn't quite understand the whole concept. The idea in Schuko plugs is that you cannot pull the cable out of the plug. It's totally fixed (either inside solid plastic, or attached with a strain relief that fixes it). edit: now that I think of it, Schuko plugs of the install-yourself kind where you can attach cable with a screwdriver (not solid plastic with the cable) are done so that the earth cable is longer than…

So are the British plugs. Perhaps pulling the cord out should be called an extreme failure mode?

(It was probably more useful 20 or more years ago, before moulded plugs were common.)

Re: USB Killer

#178

Post by tomaskafka »

cstross wrote: post #83

If you're feeling ornery,you could fly with one in your hand luggage. If the TSA or foreign equivalent border security want to scan your devices, it's their look-out.

This - I'm suprised this isn't the highest voted comment here. Let me buy this, I'll keep a few in my travel bag.

Re: USB Killer

#179

Post by jader201 »

elwell wrote: post #140
Aardwolf wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see. Thanks! Highly unlikely that 129 people in a row respond like that though... More likely is that someone destroys the USB device in anger, dismantles it, is too shocked to do anything, doesn't interpret the number as a counter, or doesn't want to ruin other people's computer. And, of course, that many people in a row stealing a USB device from a backpack is already unlikely in itself.

Yeah it would have been clearer if he didn't use a power of 2 for his counter's current state. Made me think it had to do with the device's storage capacity.

I'm assuming the original story was actually told as a joke, where the "128" number was intentionally misleading until the punchline at the end where he incremented the number and "payed it forward".

Re: USB Killer

#180

Post by Symbiote »

MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #78
julian_t wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They definitely shouldn't be.... IANA electrician, but as far as I am aware UK regulations require separate power and lighting circuits and a proper distribution board with RCBs. And while our plugs may be clunky, I kind of prefer them to the wobbly, spark emitting two-pin plugs that I seem to come across in the US...

Obviously the US plugs are the worst, but thats the price for being the first. PAL was better than NTSC, too.

Being first is no excuse! Britain (and empire) used to use an older design, the current design was introduced in 1947.

India (and other places) still use the older standard, BS 546. That's also used for things like theatre lighting in the UK.

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