Questions tagged [usb]

an industry standard used for connecting to and powering peripheral devices (keyboards, mice, cameras, printers, external hard drives, etc) from a computer or other USB capable device.

USB, or Universal Serial Bus, is an industry standard used for connecting to and powering peripheral devices (keyboards, mice, cameras, printers, external hard drives, etc) from a computer or other USB capable device.

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How worried should I be about getting hacked with PoisonTap?

I just heard of PoisonTap today. Here is a short description from a TechCrunch article: PoisonTap connects to the USB port and announces itself not as a USB device, but an Ethernet interface. The computer, glad to switch over from battery-sucking…
Dennis Jaheruddin
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Can an SD card (or microsd card) emulate an HID device?

In a similar manner to a usb rubber ducky, can one use an SD card to emulate an HID device (such as a mouse or keyboard)? If so, how could this be implemented, and how can it be protected against?
belkarx
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How protect ourselves from USB Firmware viruses? Does Antivirus help?

On Windows (pnd probably other operating systems, I don't know), when you plug in a USB appliance (a flash drive, mouse, etc) Windows automatically runs the "Device installation" and the firmware is installed. However, that firmware doesn't reside…
T.Todua
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USB modem software installs autorun.inf parser, are there any risks?

A major telecommunications device manufacturer ships its USB modem with helper software and drivers so that the user can connect to the internet and send/receive SMS. Since recent versions of Windows no longer execute autorun.inf files…
user22260
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Risk of connecting found pendrives to USB ports

At work we mostly use Windows 10, but some co-workers doing design work use Macs. Pen-drives lie around and the only way of knowing what's inside, is to stick it into a PC and read the content? How high is the risk of getting viruses, backdoors,…
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USB Killer Protection

Is there any way to protect computers from the USB vulnerabilities exploited by the likes of USB Killer and other similar attacks? (Protection aside from a strict data protection compliance schemes and inspecting each USB you use like a…
user68786
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Is it possible to hack a device via the USB port on an airplane?

Nearly every airplane these days has 5V USB power port at every seat. Some of these appear to be configured for power only, while others appear to be configured for both power and data transfer, since I will sometimes get a prompt on my iPhone:…
Dan A.
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If I transfer files from a school computer to my own will the school have access to my computer?

I have some files I want from my school computer to my own computer and I want to know if I do will the school have access to my computer (Using a usb ofc) my school computer also has restrictions and i am wondering that, if I transfer a file (like…
lilshine
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Risk of letting a complete stranger charge his smartphone on your laptop's USB port

How risky is to let someone connect a smartphone for charging it? Could someone intentionally or unintentionally contaminate a fully updated and patched Windows 10 or Ubuntu laptop?
Quora Feans
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Can I use a text editor to detect keystroke injection?

Let's say for instance I have some USB devices I suspect of being programmed for to execute keystroke injection. If I were to load a live OS and switch it to runlevel 1, then logged into an unpriviledged user and ran a text editor like nano before…
user942937
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How is it possible for a USB device posing as a keyboard to auto-run a script without user input?

I know the "USB Rubber Ducky" pretends to be a keyboard toward the OS, but I still don't understand how he can launch a script... Normal keyboard can't just initiate keypress by itself right? Or maybe a special kind of driver is required?
Duke Nukem
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USB Mouse in the meeting room

In our meeting rooms we have at our disposal the necessary material for presentations. HDMI, and mouse etc., lock down to the table (3 digit lock). All the mouse have been removed for security reason, in fear of a modified mouse with keylogger,…
xdtTransform
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How to find if a USB has been plugged in on a certain date? (Linux/Mac)

Starting from this great script offered by Daniel Azuelos cd /Volumes/suspicious_USB /usr/bin/sudo find . -atime -21 -exec ls -dluT {} \; How is it possible to modify it in order to find if a USB flash was plugged in, on any random computer, on a…
Doc Brown
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How to protect against USB malware?

What measures should I take to avoid any infection through USB devices? For example, there is a tiny virus called shortcut which hides your files and put shortcuts instead. I was wondering if there are some special measures besides the traditional…
Arslan Smal
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How to properly wipe data from a USB?

I have recently deleted all the files from my USB. Is this data permanently gone, or is there someway of retrieving it (I want to make sure it's gone forever!). What are the best methods for sanitising a USB?
user1513637
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