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

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.

Comments

Of course USB is a perfect system

[OzPeter]

I mean my USB hub never drops my mouse connection or anything like that. So there is no chance of a false positive.

Er...all this does is "shutdown -r now"

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

Here's the source:
https://github.com/hephaest0s/...

What's next - a tutorial on how to press the power button?

Deadmans Switch

[Liquidretro]

So it's a deadman's switch basically.

Re:this already exists

[Dunbal]

If they have a tactical team breaking into your house you are pretty much fucked on circumstantial evidence anyway... It might mean the difference between 5 years in prison and life in prison though. "We're sure he had 'x' on his hard drive" is a lot weaker than "we found 'x' on his hard drive"...