Beware the USB-based computer killer
If you found a USB stick in the street, hopefully you would be wise enough not to plug it into your PC to see what it contained, lest it contains a virus and you have the autorun option turned on. Now there is even more reason to avoid plugging strange hardware into a valuable PC, as some sticks can fry the PC electronics.
This month, Vishwanath Akuthota, a former student of a private New York college pleaded guilty to destroying 59 of the college's PCs, 7 Apples, numerous smart devices with USB ports, and even the ports on some of the podiums. The college estimates that they spent about $7,000 on repairs, and have over $50,000 worth of unfixable machines. The student was identified from CCTV, and when apprehended by police, was found to have selfie footage of his exploits on his phone.
Akuthota's motives for this wanton destruction remain unclear, but what is clear is that he used a device called a USB Killer. The way these devices work is that when plugged into a USB port, they charge up a capacitor very quickly using power from the USB, and then, a fraction of a second later, discharge the energy in one burst as a high voltage spark into the USB port, and continue doing this for as long as they can draw power from the port. At best, the device will destroy the USB's data chip, meaning the port can still be used for charging a battery, but not data transfer. At worst, the high voltages get through to the motherboard and destroy the various processor and memory chips.
I can think of no valid reason why anyone would need one of these, and was surprised to discover that you can buy them over the internet for a few dollars, and that plenty of sites give instructions on how you can build your own using a cheap "bug zapper" or a USB air-ioniser. I was even more surprised at how many videos there are on YouTube demonstrating USB Killers, too many to count, and plugging not just into PCs, but also into the USB ports on phones, routers, TVs, even cars. As usual, the social media companies have no social responsibility when it comes to sharing harmful content. Here is a ten second video of some idiot kid destroying a school laptop, for a laugh.
That's how quickly you can destroy a computer. This isn't a funny prank you can play on someone, it is destruction of property. So next time you find a USB stick, keep it at arms length, and make sure the rest of the family know about this too.
25th April 2019
This article comes from the SKILLZONE email newsletter, published monthly since January 2008, and covering topics related to technology and the internet. All articles and artwork in the SKILLZONE newsletter are orignal content.