USB Flash Drive - protection

Discussion in 'other security issues & news' started by LUSHER, Jul 28, 2007.

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  1. LUSHER

    LUSHER Registered Member

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    I'm now forced to use USB Flash Drives in very unsecure locations, e.g. laptops owned by totally clueless "friends". Any tips on how to protect myself when I replug it to my network?

    Thanks in advance.
     
  2. Huupi

    Huupi Registered Member

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    Hi, From Avast,they have their portable Avasthome intended to protect your portable device.
     
  3. LUSHER

    LUSHER Registered Member

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    where?
     
  4. Bio-Hazard

    Bio-Hazard Registered Member

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  5. LUSHER

    LUSHER Registered Member

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    I'm actually looking for more generic tips rather than just slapping on another security software approach. And even for software, freeware would be better.
     
  6. True Orient

    True Orient Registered Member

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    Enable the write-protect feature of your USB drive...
     
  7. LUSHER

    LUSHER Registered Member

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    interesting trueorient. how does that work?
     
  8. farmerlee

    farmerlee Registered Member

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    Yup, get a flash drive that has write protection. That way absolutely nothing on your flashdrive can be changed while its on.
     
  9. LUSHER

    LUSHER Registered Member

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    How do i know if i have that feature??
     
  10. farmerlee

    farmerlee Registered Member

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    There would be a write protect switch on the flashdrive. Its just like the write protect switch used on floppy disks.
     
  11. lodore

    lodore Registered Member

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    the best way is to put everything in folders so you know what is ment to be on it then scan it with an on demand scanner before you plug it back in to your network.
    ive never trusted the college network.
    so i sometimes i just downloaded drweb cure it at college and scanned my flash drive.
    read only isnt a bad idea thou.
    i tryed that once but couldnt since i run browsers off the flash drive and the browser needed to write to the drive.
    lodore
     
  12. LUSHER

    LUSHER Registered Member

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    Sigh it happened again.

    I went to this silly lady's computer cos I need to copy some files to her laptop for her to print. She insisted on scanning my usb drive - using Bitdefender Free, and she claimed she found a virus on my computer.

    I checked it out and indeed there was something... In the autorun.inf..

    [Autorun]
    open=Flash.10.Setup.exe
    shellexecute=Flash.10.Setup.exe
    shell\Explore\command=Flash.10.Setup.exe
    shell\Open\command=Flash.10.Setup.exe
    shell\Scan for Viruses\command=Scanner.exe
    shell=Explore

    I replug it back into my secure network and indeed the AVs instantly light up before I do anything....Funny how one trip to the outside world can make all the difference. Alerting on those files which I could have sworn were not there and was just added today...

    My guess? That's lady's laptop is utterly unprotected except by the on demand scanner, and i observed she doesn't insist on scannign everybody's usb drive, chances are *her* computer is infected, and me simply by being connected to her computer got infected... and then she scans only my usb drive with bitdefender on demand.....

    And the cheek of her to blame me for the virus. My network is utterly clean and protected. I just plug into hers, and I have all this kind of crap dumped on me.

    I wonder if disabling autoruns makes a difference. Does anyone know?
     
  13. LUSHER

    LUSHER Registered Member

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    OMG I must be the only noob here not to disable autorun/play...

    what an idiot!!!
     
  14. lodore

    lodore Registered Member

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    I dont have autorun disabled lol.
    didnt you advice this so called stupid women to install a realtime antivirus?
    im just glad avptool is out soon.
    so if i use my usb pen at college and think its infected i can download and run avptool to remove the virus so it doesnt affect my home pc.
    atm i use drweb cureit to scan my usb pen at college.
    lodore
     
  15. GlobalForce

    GlobalForce Regular Poster

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    Schneier on Security - http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/06/hacking_compute.html. In some cases you'll need to be aware of more than merely holding the "shift" key down before inserting a questionable usb "device." Posted by sstasiukonis, darkreading.com ....
    Presented as nothing more than "food for thought."


    Steve
     
  16. LUSHER

    LUSHER Registered Member

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    That's a pretty old trick, hiding extensions.

    I'm more interested on whether autorun works on USB drive. Some say it works only on CD, some say it works on some USB drives that are marked as CD, others say it always works even on normal vanilia USB drives.

    For my computer it definitely works and runs whatever I specify in autoruns.inf.
     
  17. GlobalForce

    GlobalForce Regular Poster

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    "For my computer ..." it run's while holding the shift key? You must have a pretty spatial computer then.

    Steve
     
  18. LUSHER

    LUSHER Registered Member

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    No No, nothing to do with shift key.
     
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