Any USB Peripheral is a Potential Security Threat

The USB ports on a computer present a security risk. Not only are storage devices able to plug in and interface with the hardware, but also coffee cup warmers, fans, and even mini-vacuums.

A team of computer engineers from Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario exploited a weakness in the USB plug-and-play functionality. What the team did was create a fake USB device that reported itself as something that computer already recognized.

For example, if the computer already paired itself with a USB camera, a hacker could spoof the same identity on another device.

As a proof of concept, the team designed a USB keyboard that contained a circuit that stole data from the hard drive and transmitted it by flashing an LED in a morse code-like fashion, as well as through sounds output by the sound card. While such methods are hugely inefficient and likely ineffective, it was just a proof of concept of the vulnerability.

Even though virus scanning software may check USB storage for malware, secretly planted trojans inside USB peripherals will likely be missed.

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