N E VE R insert an unknown Thumbdrive!

[DelJo63]

but apparently a secret service agent didn't know that:

... testified in court that another agent inserted the thumb drive into his computer in an effort to analyze it, prompting the drive to install files without the agent's consent and corrupt other files on the computer.

... adding the agent, who was not identified, then shut down the computer to avoid further damage.

so says Foxnews.com.


“You don’t put an unknown USB into your computer. That’s in all the training everyone gets, even in your dumb corporate training. You even tell your mom that.”

— Chris Wysopal, chief technology officer at Veracode​

Sincerely hope you're laughing out loud, rolling on the floor when you read this.

Now to be fair, there's a spin on this:

the court testimony did not accurately reflect the incident.

The source said the thumb drive’s forensic analysis was conducted on a standalone computer in accordance with protocol and added the Secret Service's network was never at risk of malware introduction, as the computer wasn’t connected to the network.

 

[DelJo63]

A forensic analyst might need to see the damage that gets wrought, but as defensive user, you don't! You only need to know that the drive contains damaging software or is safe to mount.

1. disable autorun & autoplay for all external devices.
2. once mounted, run your antivirus program[*] to discover if the device is safe

[*] this assumes your AV is up to date and known to be effective at finding trojans and malware.

 

[learninmypc]

Old thread, worth a bump