Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Why the Security of USB Is Fundamentally Broken

Stephen Downes

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I'm not saying this has anything to do with certain recent cases of hacking, but the flaw seems serious and pervasive. "Karsten Nohl and Jakob Lell plan to present next week, demonstrating a collection of proof-of-concept malicious software that highlights how the security of USB devices has long been fundamentally broken." The malware is embedded not in the data stored on the USB, but in the firmware itself, making it invisible to screening software. And no, it's not just the bad guys who could use this. "The USB attack may in fact already be common practice for the NSA (in) a spying device known as Cottonmouth, revealed earlier this year in the leaks of Edward Snowden."

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Nov 03, 2024 2:43 p.m.

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