Our Efforts to Find the Ideal Solution to A Common Problem
Introduction
USB Kill is a pen testing USB flash drive that transforms a USB port’s 5 Volts into about -220 Volts, leading to the destruction of hardware of, for example, a personal computer, laptop or even a phone. However, there is not a big deal regarding these flash drives because they have a logo on the outside clearly indicating that they are a pen testing device.
Issue comes when these flash drives are being massively manufactured without any type of logo on the outside. The result is that it cannot be known if your flash drive could cause damage to hardware and, therefore, having to replace USB ports, motherboards, hard drives, and even power supplies.
My Personal Experience
My father uses to buy many items online. In fact, there is almost a package arriving every two days in a single month. He purchases electronics components as he is an electronics technician but he also brings home unnecessary products such as excess of nuts, bolts and tools that he implements in only a project he might have, and then they are useless. He has a room at home where I can barely walk.
Once upon a day, I was looking for a USB flash drive to watch on the TV an old movie that was stored in my personal computer. I did not find any anywhere, so I went to this room to search for one. I was excited to be close to fulfilling my wish of recalling this old movie I watched with my grandfathers. I connected this flash drive to the computer, went around the table and found out that the computer was off but without ignoring a small sound created just after the connection.
“What is going on here!” I asked myself after realizing that my computer did not turn on anymore. I checked all cables, electricity and all was working as usual, except my computer that did not turn on.
It took a few days of investigation to find out that the cause was a pen testing device, in this case a USB flash drive, that did not have any indications at all on the outside of what it was. There was not even a single warning, label or anything alike.
Speaking of Bad Experiences
A student of the College of St. Rose used a “USB Killer Device,” which is the name these devices are commonly referred to, to destroy 66 computers, monitors and computer-enhanced podiums. You can read more in the following link:
It did not end well for this student…
“When he is sentenced on August 12, 2019 by United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino, [student] faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of up to 3 years.”
My Point of View
After thinking about all this situation, I realized that it was, indeed, a problem that these USB Killers did not have labels or warning on them, however, it was a bigger problem that people and institutions did not have a way to prevent these hardware damage situations or, specifically, a practical method to detect and neutralize these flash drives before hardware was damaged.
Further Understanding
“Why are these USBs made this way? Without any type of warnings at all?” I asked myself.
Searching the web, I found a possible answer to my question:
https://thehackernews.com/2015/05/usbkill-secret-data.html
“Kill the data from your laptop if the law enforcement has caught your laptop.”
At least for me, the above quote provides the goal and reason behind leaving these USB Killers without any warning, logos or labels at all.
Our Solution
Together with my father, we hired several electrical engineers, CAD specialists and technicians related to the field to find out a solution to the problem. Our initial idea was to detect these flash drives, and we thought that the final product needed to be about pocket-size and easy to carry everywhere.
We called this device USB Killer Detector, and as its name mentions, it detects USB Killers before they are connected to a USB port and, therefore, avoid damage to hardware. You can find the documentation such as schematics and photos at the end of this article.
As you might have noticed, introducing you to our device is the main goal with this article, but also, we would like to gain awareness, traction and gather around a community that would support and help us create the perfect final product for this problem that is happening.
Our current product is not close to perfect and not even close to the final product idea, which I share with you in the following lines: My vision for the future of this project is that it becomes a hub where multiple flash drives can be connected and data can be transferred between these flash drives and third-party devices such as computers. Of course, if there is a USB Killer connected to this hub, then prevent the damage to hardware.
My father and I have spent several of our resources over the last two year developing this project to where it is today and we think that the help of people interested would speed up the arrival to the final product.
A Final Word
“Does it cross your mind that the use of USB Killers is an isolated case?” I ask you, dear reader.
The following video has a total of 19 million views over the past five years, which means ten thousand views per day during all that time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1o1nwlpY4I
Here is another similar example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLkXiP1fC2A
The above video has 1.6 million views over the last year, which means four thousand views per day.
Finally, to find a third example, have you searched for these USB Killers in big online retailers?
There are two versions available:
- Battery-powered version (v1).
- This version uses a battery to have energy. People can carry this device anywhere they like and have the intended functionality.
- Non-battery powered version (v2).
- We developed this version because it is difficult to ship ion-based batteries and devices that contain them.
- Requirement: A micro-USB cable that provides 5 Volts.