Archean
Posts: 5,650 +102
USB Has a Fundamental Security Flaw That You Can't Detect
Security researchers Karsten Nohl and Jakob Lell have reverse engineered the firmware that controls the basic communication functions of USB. Not only that, the've also written a piece of malware, called BadUSB, that can "be installed on a USB device to completely take over a PC, invisibly alter files installed from the memory stick, or even redirect the user's internet traffic."Embedded within USB devices—from thumb drives thorough keyboards to smartphones—is a controller chip which allows the device and a computer it's connected to send information back and forth. It's this that Nohl and Lell have targeted, which means their malware doesn't sit in flash memory, but rather is hidden away in firmware, undeletable by all but the most technically knowledgable.
Scary ........... isn't going to justify what can heppen, if this could be used to gain access/inflict damage.
Security researchers Karsten Nohl and Jakob Lell have reverse engineered the firmware that controls the basic communication functions of USB. Not only that, the've also written a piece of malware, called BadUSB, that can "be installed on a USB device to completely take over a PC, invisibly alter files installed from the memory stick, or even redirect the user's internet traffic."Embedded within USB devices—from thumb drives thorough keyboards to smartphones—is a controller chip which allows the device and a computer it's connected to send information back and forth. It's this that Nohl and Lell have targeted, which means their malware doesn't sit in flash memory, but rather is hidden away in firmware, undeletable by all but the most technically knowledgable.
Scary ........... isn't going to justify what can heppen, if this could be used to gain access/inflict damage.