This thumbdrive hacks computers. “BadUSB” exploit makes devices turn “evil”

This reminds me of some years ago before ROOTKITS were a threat. Those old timers here will remember me as being one of the few that actually thought they were going to become a common place thing of the future. Ya I got flagged as being way out there in left field along with being a fear monger. Not until Russ came up with his Rootkitrevealer and fond Sony was including a rootkit on CD currently did people start to change there tune.
At the same time the same kind of discussions were carried on here about attacking hardware such as video cards, ect. Same results as the rootkits. Loa and behold Johanna Rutkowski (spelling) came up with a few thins as POC and the USA was able to send hardware malware to Iran's Nuke plants. Taiwan was including hardware malware on its new hard drives ect ect ect. I am sure you remember this ConeRanger

SO what is so new about this concept? Just take a peek at this news taken from Geers from the Black Hat con.

http://www.technologyreview.com/new...pikes-preceded-russian-and-israeli-conflicts/

Who was Geer of FireEye?

Geers, who recently left FireEye to work as an independent consultant, previously worked on international computer security at the National Security Agency and NATO.

 

USB firmware: An upcoming threat for home and enterprise users

 

@ controler

Sure can, i was there, & one of the few along with you ! Even before the SONY fiasco, you will remember the Large RK thread that started in about 2004 on here, filled with Lots of posts on them, and all the available RK detectors & AntiRK's that appeared from then on. Sadly that thread, & lots of others, have disappeared ! It seemed obvious at the time that hiding nasties would be the way to go. RK's are, & have been, mainstream for some time now. Even 64 Bit comps are not totally immune.

So any extra new way of hiding & infecting etc, needs to be taken seriously. Because the bad guys will. This particular method though, requires Skilz that the average, or above, coder will struggle with. But as with RK's etc, before long it'll be copy/paste etc code that probably assists them in their dirty deeds.

 

GDATA USB Keyboard guard

 

The BadUSB exploit is deadly, but few may be hit

 

From New Research, Same Old Problems With BadUSB:

Related thread: The Unpatchable Malware That Infects USBs Is Now on the Loose.

 

From Only Half of USB Devices Have an Unpatchable Flaw, But No One Knows Which Half: