Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > comp.misc > #12588

Re: [CM] the USB killer now exists and is being mass-produced

Show all headers | View raw

On 6/12/2016 7:24 PM, Paul Sture wrote:
> On 2016-12-06, Sylvia Else <sylvia@not.at.this.address> wrote:
>> On 6/12/2016 3:27 AM, The Real Bev wrote:
>>> On 12/04/2016 04:25 PM, Sylvia Else wrote:
>>>> On 5/12/2016 1:11 AM, Eric Pozharski wrote:
>>>>> with <eahhicFq6n7U1@mid.individual.net> Sylvia Else wrote:
>>>>>> On 4/12/2016 3:36 AM, RS Wood wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>> New submitter npslider writes: The "USB Killer," a USB stick that
>>>>>>> fries almost everything that it is plugged into, has been mass
>>>>>>> produced -- available online for about $50. Ars Technica first wrote
>>>>>>> about this diabolical device that looks like a fairly humdrum memory
>>>>>>> stick a year ago. From the report: "The USB Killer is shockingly
>>>>>>> simple in its operation. As soon as you plug it in, a DC-to-DC
>>>>> *SKIP*
>>>>>> Or appropriately connect diodes to the data lines. If this device
>>>>>> becomes widespread enough, manufacturers will start doing that on new
>>>>>> hardware, particularly if people keep submitting warranty claims.
>>>>>
>>>>> Somehow I believe pluging-in 220V isn't covered by any reasonable
>>>>> warranty.  Personaly, I have some time to get some spare USB-Hub.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> It probably isn't, but that won't stop people making warranty claims,
>>>> and it's likely quite difficult to prove the exact cause. In any case,
>>>> even processing warranty claims that are rejected costs money.
>>>
>>> I have to wonder about the LEGITIMATE use for such a thing...
>>>
>> Testing device protection against this?
>>
>
> I got my first stereo receiver in 1974 and by then there was protection
> against speaker cables becoming disconnected or shorting out.
>
> IOW the idea is not new.
>
> --
> tar: Cowardly refusing to create an empty archive
>

Still those problems happened by accident. I suppose some self-powered 
USB devices might have had faults that could lead them to apply high 
voltages to USB ports, but it's not very likely, given that such faults 
could also be dangerous to humans. The designers of the USB spec were 
hardly remiss in failing to realise that someone might do it deliberately.

Sylvia.

Back to comp.misc | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Next in thread | Find similar

Thread

[CM] the USB killer now exists and is being mass-produced RS Wood  <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2016-12-03 16:36 +0000
  Re: [CM] the USB killer now exists and is being mass-produced Sylvia Else <sylvia@not.at.this.address> - 2016-12-04 14:40 +1100
    Re: [CM] the USB killer now exists and is being mass-produced Eric Pozharski <whynot@pozharski.name> - 2016-12-04 16:11 +0200
      Re: [CM] the USB killer now exists and is being mass-produced Sylvia Else <sylvia@not.at.this.address> - 2016-12-05 11:25 +1100
        Re: [CM] the USB killer now exists and is being mass-produced The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com> - 2016-12-05 08:27 -0800
          Re: [CM] the USB killer now exists and is being mass-produced RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2016-12-05 20:28 -0500
          Re: [CM] the USB killer now exists and is being mass-produced Sylvia Else <sylvia@not.at.this.address> - 2016-12-06 13:18 +1100
            Re: [CM] the USB killer now exists and is being mass-produced Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2016-12-06 09:24 +0100
              Re: [CM] the USB killer now exists and is being mass-produced Sylvia Else <sylvia@not.at.this.address> - 2016-12-06 21:49 +1100
                Re: [CM] the USB killer now exists and is being mass-produced Eric Pozharski <whynot@pozharski.name> - 2016-12-07 09:47 +0200
  Re: [CM] the USB killer now exists and is being mass-produced Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2016-12-07 18:56 +0000

csiph-web