USB Killer, yours for £50, lets you easily fry almost every device | Ars Technica UK
Sends -200V charge through data lines (negative DC is bad, a while back I managed to spark a Raspberry PI I was running on just -24V to +5V inverter as the frame of the cheap cig lighter adapter (which was -24V) contacted an audio card with the frame of the audio at 0V and I’d ommitted the trafo to keep this from happening 😥
These devices are openly on sale online, though not sure how long before Border Force / Trading Standards and other authorities restrict the sale of such items. Although they claim to be “CE marked” all that means is it doesn’t risk giving a strong shock to the enduser, and its not illegal to put a CE mark on something which can be dangerous or antisocial if used wrongly, I (jokingly) put a CE (!) on my portable transmitter that I use for testing pager networks but if I really wished could monkey around with peoples remote control switches, put model aircrafts straight out of the sky though interference or even pop peoples car locks, luckily I’m an older and moe chilled out man nowadays so won’t do any of that bad stuff
Most usage of this device (other than within an electronic test lab to test protection of USB circuits) is going to be illegal and immorral.
Could think of many scenarios – disgruntled worker in office/industrial plant or worse, a healthcare facility.
USB ports on some equipment can be flaky anyway; I’ve got a older digital camera from work in my drawer upstairs that was decommissioned as a surge came down the USB across the PE (earth ground) due to our sketchy electric supply and that knackered the USB connector (the camera still works if you physically take the chip out and use it in another reader)
But How long will it be before I end up physically stopping up USB ports on critical equipment at work (medical equipment often has USB ports nowadays( or ending up searching staff for portable devices?
It won’t be long before folk end up in jail and/or others getting hurt…
