Is the USB 2.0 and 3.0 port becoming a public menace?
It seems that being a fan of the USB port is getting more difficult, as we learn about all the creative ways that this port can be hacked and through which virtually any operating system locking mechanism can be circumvented.
While this article is by no means a case against USB ports, the evidence of it causing serious trouble to systems, is real. As of late, a video posted on YouTube has shown how easy it is to steal login credentials, simply by plugging in a USB device similar to Intel Compute Stick, running Linux.
While this might seem bad, it gets worse. A video posted by USBKILL on YouTube demonstrates how USB Killer 2.0, a device the size of a thumb drive, can fry a computer on contact, rendering its internal circuitry permanently inoperable.
The method used to accomplish this, is rather simple, from an engineering standpoint. When the USB Killer 2.0 is plugged into any USB port on a laptop, the device starts collecting power from it and store it into its capacitors. Next, it begins discharging -200DC power using the data lines of the device where it is connected, frying everything within reach, including the mainboard, processor and hard drives.
What about USB Type-C?
The specifications for USB Type-C offer some comfort in the fact that Type-C ports have built-in encryption and authorization mechanisms that prevent unauthorized connection of unrecognized devices. Unfortunately, security certificates can still be duplicated with due diligence, which means that to some degree, the USB port will always be the achilles heel of computers.
Apple MacBook Pro and MacBook Air are the exception
Software-based attacks involving the compromise of login credentials seem to work regardless of the operating system. With that said, hardware-based attacks aimed at frying the internal components, have been reported to work on anything but Apple MacBook Pro and MacBook Air laptops. The reason for these particular models of Apple laptops to be impervious to USB Killer 2.0, is that Apple thought fit to provide its flagship laptops with isolation on data lines connected to USB ports.
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