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The 'USB Killer' Has Been Mass Produced -- Available Online For About $50 (arstechnica.com)
New submitter npslider writes: The "USB Killer," a USB stick that fries almost everything that it is plugged into, has been mass produced -- available online for about $50. Ars Technica first wrote about this diabolical device that looks like a fairly humdrum memory stick a year ago. From the report: "The USB Killer is shockingly simple in its operation. As soon as you plug it in, a DC-to-DC converter starts drawing power from the host system and storing electricity in its bank of capacitors (the square-shaped components). When the capacitors reach a potential of -220V, the device dumps all of that electricity into the USB data lines, most likely frying whatever is on the other end. If the host doesn't just roll over and die, the USB stick does the charge-discharge process again and again until it sizzles. Since the USB Killer has gone on sale, it has been used to fry laptops (including an old ThinkPad and a brand new MacBook Pro), an Xbox One, the new Google Pixel phone, and some cars (infotainment units, rather than whole cars... for now). Notably, some devices fare better than others, and there's a range of possible outcomes -- the USB Killer doesn't just nuke everything completely." You can watch a video of EverythingApplePro using the USB Killer to fry a variety of electronic devices. It looks like the only real defense from the USB Killer is physically capping your ports.
Of course they have current limited USB switches. The point is this device slowly collects charge over time then drops it onto the data lines instantly. The protection diodes found within the USB host are only designed for ESD-like voltages and currents. They can not handle a high voltage being applied for a long time. They blow then the rest of the USB chipset blows. If you are really lucky, the charge then passes through the USB chipset and blows other ICs in the host.
This is why we can't have nice things.
Like the fact that you can find a USB port in planes, trains, bars, and various other places where you might need to charge up your phone?
Yup, not any more.
It really sucks that some people just like to watch the world burn.
That is basically what a protection diode is - except they do not use zener diodes. They have one diode connected to ground and one to VCC. If the voltage drops below ground, one diode conducts clamping the voltage to ~-0.7v. If the voltage increases beyond VCC, the other diode conducts and clamps the voltage at VCC+0.7v. This is effective when dissipating a small charge that could potentially be at a high voltage - think ESD. But if you have prolonged current the diode will blow and short.
So you have a short (blown diode) but you still have a significant amount of energy to dissipate. This results in a large current that will cause the diode to physically explode or possibly blow a trace. USB data lines typically use very thin traces and can not conduct much power. If a trace goes then USB is screwed but the rest of the computer will probably function correctly. If the diode explodes your protection is gone and the high voltage will now cause all sorts of damage.
One interesting use I can think of is to simply carry one around in case you get arrested by the police.
Supposedly police require a warrant to search your personal papers such as your cell phone, so this shouldn't be much different. If they take the USB drive over to the cruiser and plug it in "just to see" then this will fry their system.
You can even tell the officer not to plug the device in, that it's not a thumb drive, and that there's no information on it.
It would probably work at airports as well.
I really don't see a downside to this.
He isn't draining anything, he's filling it even fuller with Olympic swimming pools worth of sludge. His Treasury Secretary is plucked straight from, drumroll please, Goldman Sachs. After all that time he spent complaining about the (((GLOBALIST ELITE BANKERS))) and whining about Hillary's speech to Goldman.
I'm going to enjoy watching his supporters slowly figure out they fell for a long con, got suckered bigly, and voted in the world's yuuuuugest huckster.
Public charging ports don't have data lines... just power. The device would charge but have no data lines for the discharge.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
The problem with a device like this is it is hard to find a substantial legitimate use for it. Given that, they are likely to be targeted for a lawsuit and they are likely to lose that suit.
While it is perfectly ok to sell a device that gets used to commit crimes, you generally have to have a legit reason to be selling it and it can't be something that is totally made up that nobody actually believes. So for example while a crowbar can certainly be used to break in to a house to or attack someone, they are also widely used used to get nails out of things and pry stuck objects apart. As an opposed example a number of companies that sell devices to help you cheat on urine tests have gotten in trouble since their devices had no use other than said cheating.
It is very, very hard to think of a legit use for this and I can't imagine they'll get many legit sales. So it'll probably get them in legal trouble.
I doubt they'd have a hard time stretching it to over something like this. If you have a device who's only purpose is to destroy something and it goes and destroys something, well you are pretty likely to get in trouble for it.
Remember courts aren't operated by overly literal geeks who think if they can find some explanation, no matter how outlandish or unlikely, it'll be accepted. The law bases a lot around what is reasonable, and around intent. So your attempt at being cute won't work, and you'll be off to jail.
It also may very well be illegal just to have, or be made illegal if not. There are devices that are outlawed purely because they have no legit use. Many states ban burglary tools, which can include things like the cracked ceramic piece of a spark plug (the aluminum oxide ceramic breaks tempered glass easily). If they catch you and can prove intent, then you are in trouble just for having them with the intent to use them illegally.
Oh and don't think they have to read your mind or get a confession to prove intent. They usually just have to show that the circumstances surrounding the situation are enough to lead a reasonable person to believe that you were going to commit a crime.
And a post like this, would count for sure.
I can just picture someone plugging one of these into one of those public charging kiosks at an airport. Wanna bet how well the ports are well isolated?
It would likely do nothing at all. It dumps the charge down the data lines, a charging port shouldn't have any data lines. Now, maybe the data lines ARE connected to something (so the TSA can search every phone that gets plugged in, "for your safety"), in that case maybe blowing the data lines would be a good thing overall.
Enigma
He isn't draining anything, he's filling it even fuller with Olympic swimming pools worth of sludge.
Bingo. The Trumpkins have been completely suckered, as you can see from the resumes of those in President-elect Donald Trump’s closest political circle so far:
Treasury secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin: Goldman Sachs.
Chief strategist Steve Bannon: Goldman Sachs.
Transition adviser Anthony Scaramucci: Goldman Sachs.
Commerce secretary nominee Wilbur Ross: Rothschild & Co.
Possible budget director Gary Cohn: Goldman Sachs.
Potential secretary of state Mitt Romney: Bain Capital.
And Trump is just getting started. Check out that “swamp draining!" Take that, Wall Street!
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
He's a racist, lying, idiot sack of shit, but he hasnt murdered a pregnant woman on live television, that we know of, so give him a chance!
This is just another way to vandalize stuff. I owned a far cheaper version of this 30 years ago. Its called a baseball bat. Before that, I had a tack-hammer. My ancestors had a version too, but they called it a "brick". Even earlier versions were called "rocks".
If we're lucky, cities will start passing ordinances to make mere possession of these a crime, since there is no legal purpose for these.
I made one to plug into my iPhone 7 audio jack and blow it up. Oh wait...
You can use it on your Samsung Note 7 to... oh, wait...
I'm all for things that go boom. I love weird, clever little gadgets. I admire a clever and subtle subversion of a system, even when I don't condone its use.
But geez; this thing is not exactly elegant. It uses a fairly basic circuit to exploit the completely unsurprising fact that the interface isn't designed to handle high voltages.
I'm with you on this one. All someone did was say "Gee, capacitors can hold large charge and dissipate it quickly so it will destroy a circuit whose design spec doesn't call for handling large voltages" and build a small device to do so. BFD. I can build a 120 or 210 power cord with a usb connector, plug it in a to the wall and a usb port; POW sparks fly as well. The "the interface and machines should have been deigned to prevent such an event" is ridiculous since no one expects someone to design a device to deliberate damage the port; and if you did try to do so why stop there? A screwdriver can also physically damage it so doe step spec require it to withstand such an attack? How about if I put my machine in a microwave? Or do we design it in such a way that it performs as intended and the expectation is it will be used in a reasonable manner?
Some people will no doubt think it's funny to use one on unsuspecting victims and when caught say "It's just a joke" and / or "The machine should have been designed not to let that happen;" and be surprised when they are hauled into court. Oh well, you can fix a fried device but you can't fix stupid.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
I tried it on my Nokia, and the stick blew up.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!