New USB Kill 2.0 Thumb Drive Can Kill Your Laptop or PC in a Second

[starbuck]

Device sold online by Hong Kong company for around $50

 

 

A Hong Kong company is selling a USB thumb drive called USB Kill 2.0 that can fry any computer it's plugged into by introducing a power surge via the USB port.

 

Last year, a device called USB Killer developed by a Russian hacker named Dark Purple made waves online because of its ability to destroy any computer the hacker wanted.

 

Now, a Hong Kong company that uses the same name, USB Killer, has launched a similar product called USB Kill 2.0, which is selling online for $49.95.

 

The company claims it developed the product for the sole purpose of allowing companies to test if their devices are vulnerable to USB power surge attacks.

 

The device also comes with a protection shield sold for $13.95 that allows users to test their devices without destroying them.

 

Removing this protection shield weaponizes the device, which will then be able to fry the devices it's being plugged into.

The company says on its websites that it "strongly condems malicious use of its products."

 

The company launched USB Kill 2.0 on August 16, but its store is already out of stock.

 

 

According to its own set of tests, the company claims that 95 percent of all devices available on the market today are vulnerable to power surges introduced via the USB port.

 

The only devices not vulnerable to USB kill attacks are recent Macbook models, which optically isolate the data lines on the USB ports.

 

 

 

Source:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/new-usb-kill-2-0-thumb-drive-can-kill-your-laptop-or-pc-in-a-second-508126.shtml

[Tony D]

Hard to believe Apple is the only manufacturer to optically isolate the USB ports.

[AWS]

Hard to believe Apple is the only manufacturer to optically isolate the USB ports.

Yes it is. In all honesty who would even conceive of an idea like this?

[starbuck]

In all honesty who would even conceive of an idea like this?

My thoughts exactly.

There are some weirdo's out there.