USBKill Transforms a Thumb Drive Into an "Anti-Forensic" Device

Posted by timothy on Tuesday May 5, 2015 @03:47AM from the content-scrambling-system dept.

Orome1 writes with a snippet from a report at net-security.org; a hacker going by Hephaestos has shared with the world a Python script that, when put on an USB thumb drive, turns the device in an effective kill switch for the computer to which it's plugged in. USBkill, as the programmer dubbed it, "waits for a change on your USB ports, then immediately kills your computer." The device would be useful "in case the police comes busting in, or steals your laptop from you when you are at a public library," Hephaestos explained.

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Re:this already exists by Orestesx · 2015-05-05 04:05 · Score: 5, Informative

This is to be used in conjunction with TrueCrypt. The summary is alluding to the arrest of the alleged founder of Silk Road at a public library. He was using a computer with full disk encryption, but they physically separated him from the laptop before he could power it off. Attach this to your wrist, and the machine will be powered off when the USB drive is removed from its port.