Never Connect Unknown USB Devices to Your Computer, One of Them Could Be USB Killer
USB Killer is notorious (but brilliant). Plug it in, and in a few seconds your computer will be dead, the motherboard will burn out due to the high dose of electricity along with any other nearby components. This video shows how it works, but the conclusion is obvious: never plug random USB devices into your computer.
Of course, the developers of USB Killer also have a USB Shield that will protect the device from it, and not all devices are susceptible to USB Killer (for example,this video shows how ineffective it is against smartphones ), but it is most likely that someone will connect one of them to your computer and kill it immediately, should be enough to remind you of one basic truth about information security:
While you are doing everything right to keep your computer safe, password protected, and your data backed up, remember to keep your computer physically secure while you work and travel . If you find or someone gives you a USB stick or other device and you haven’t used it before, try it on a computer you don’t need, confirm to someone (e.g. your IT staff in your office) that it is safe , or better yet, just don’t use it. Most people these days no longer transfer files over USB.
If you find a discarded USB drive somewhere, don’t worry about it. It sounds silly, but considering that nearly half of us will actually use the USB stick we found on earth , this is worthwhile advice.
To learn more about USB Killer, how it works and why it was created, you can check out the links below.
USB Killer | via ExtremeTech