COMPUTER DESTRUCTION (GONE DEADLY)
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2017-05-06
·
1,319 words · ~6 min read
0:00
go ahead USB killer 2.0 yet another USB
0:04
device designed to strike fear in the minds of defenseless non- Tey masses but
0:09
unlike the creatively named rubber ducky or the hacksaw and switchblade USB
0:14
methods thoroughly documented as part of an hourlong 240p epic by hack five back
0:20
in 2006 the USB killer is literal it's a
0:24
USB device that will kill what you plug into it now the original USB killer
0:29
applied a negative charge of 120 volts to the 5vt V USB pin on the port
0:34
effectively destroying the USB controller and its power regulation
0:38
circuitry USB Killer 2 kicks it up a notch bumping up the negative voltage to
0:42
around 200 volts and it hits it directly
0:45
in the data pins chances are any device that you plug it into will no longer be
0:50
functioning properly some may survive
0:54
but the majority won't and terrifyingly enough this isn't just limited to
0:58
laptops and desktop computers it even works on phones TVs and cars if
1:04
you can plug a USB device into it it may be vulnerable to this attack so this is
1:09
the part where I demo it right truthfully I had my reservations
1:14
about actually killing a bunch of Hardware I mean it's been done many
1:19
times before but this is lonus Tech tips
1:22
lonus is the man that bought a $17,000 UPS lonus is the man that decided that
1:27
he needed a 180 terab server just just so that we'd never have to delete a
1:31
single file all in the name of excess so maybe
1:36
it would be appropriate to kill his recently finished desk PC project that
1:41
you guys waited so long to see completed
1:44
so follow me and let's do just
1:54
that oh
1:57
my I didn't actually think was going to
2:01
work okay I'm going to get
2:14
fired mop is currently featuring the Emu
2:18
Purple Heart Clos back headphones check this and other drops out in the link
2:22
below okay so as you probably guessed
2:26
just like all the other YouTube pranks that was fake I didn't get fired the
2:30
computer is fine the flash drive I plugged it into is completely harmless
2:35
uh I just flipped the switch on the power bar with my foot as I put it in
2:39
but the attack is real and the drive I have here now actually in there is the
2:44
real thing USB killer official YouTube channel has plenty of videos showing it
2:49
killing things like Xboxes and even a car and if you won't take their word for
2:54
it our buddy Austin Evans Zapped two different laptops a TV and even a phone
3:00
but how does it work well it actually uses your own device against you when
3:04
you plug your USB killer into a device it Cycles through rapidly charging its
3:08
own capacitors off of the device and then discharging them at the previously
3:13
mentioned negative more specifically about 220 volts a heck of a lot more
3:18
than both the 5 volts USB is designed for and the 15 volts that would already
3:23
have been enough to kill most devices this cycle is repeated many times per
3:27
second until the USB killer is is removed and you can reuse it as many
3:32
times as you want that is until a teacher confiscates it and calls your
3:36
parents do you need to buy one then well people have actually been making their
3:40
own by modifying random USB devices that actually work for it or even taking the
3:45
flash circuitry out of a disposable camera and reworking it to load up the
3:49
capacitor and discharge over USB it's
3:53
not even that complicated you Salvage the transistor Transformer resistor
3:57
diode and capacitor from the camera add a power source if the cameras isn't
4:02
suitable throw a button in for ease of use and then send it all over USB and
4:06
you're done and so is the device and does this crude method work well yeah
4:11
and you don't even need the host device to charge it to test it we grabbed an
4:16
old Acer Aspire One from 2008 that Linus
4:19
had in the E-Waste pile for recycling
4:23
now everything in the computer isn't magically dead I wouldn't trust the
4:27
motherboard or the CPU anymore but the rest should honestly pretty much be fine
4:32
when throwing that much voltage around I'm not going to guarantee anything but
4:36
this isn't a Data Destruction method and the hard drive in here almost certainly
4:40
still works okay so enough about how easy it is for people to Brick your
4:44
stuff how do you protect yourself well the US government suggests not plugging
4:49
things into your computer thanks guys
4:52
outside of that you probably can't physically capping USB ports adding
4:57
so-called USB condoms or installing the
5:00
USB killer test Shield have been cited as ways to defend against this but as
5:05
long as the attacker has enough Ingenuity to unplug whatever you plugged
5:11
in they will be able to quickly bypass your
5:14
protection unfortunately outside of filling all your USB ports with cement
5:19
if anyone has direct access to your computer that is vulnerable to this type
5:23
of attack and they're enough of a dick to actually do it you're
5:27
screwed USB type-c will sort of have a
5:30
solution to this which is a new cryptographic authentication that can
5:34
stop unauthorized and uncertified devices from connecting but as with
5:38
pretty much all things done this way there will almost assuredly be a way to
5:43
bypass it the best way to protect against this attack is to have the
5:47
manufacturer of your device install an opto coupler these are also known as
5:52
photocouplers or Optical isolators they're components that transfer
5:56
electrical signals between two isolated circuits by using light effectively
6:01
preventing high voltages from reaching the entire system even if the port loses
6:06
its ability to transmit and receive data
6:09
this is better than nothing but not many companies have even implemented these
6:14
outside of Apple so be sure to hit up your favorite device manufacturer and
6:18
tell them to get a kraken in conclusion
6:22
just as we've always said don't plug random USB devices into things if you
6:26
don't trust it just throw it away and no
6:29
this isn't a meme or a hoax you shouldn't try this on your friend's
6:32
computer because it's illegal and honestly it's just not even funny you're
6:37
just killing hardware for no reason brain tree is code for simple online
6:42
payments if you're building a mobile app and searching for a simple payment solution check out brain tree with brain
6:47
tre's v.0 SDK which is one small snippet
6:51
of code you are set up in less than 10 minutes and they have support staff
6:54
ready to walk you through the entire process over the phone if you need them
6:59
code supports Android iOS and JavaScript clients and they have sdks in seven
7:04
different programming languages they make it easy to offer multiple payment
7:08
types including PayPal Apple pay Bitcoin
7:12
venmo Android pay credit cards and even
7:15
more all with one simple integration to learn more head over to brain Tre
7:19
payments.com Linus thanks for watching guys this
7:22
video sucked you know what to do but if it was awesome get subscribed hit that like button or check out the link below
7:27
that goes to Amazon and buy anything that isn't
7:31
this anything else whatever whatever it
7:34
is I don't care you can also buy a shirt at the link below that or go to the
7:38
community Forum to discuss this video and others now if you're wondering what
7:42
to watch next check this out which is any video done by Brandon