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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBeware viruses hidden in e-cigarette chargers and other USB chargers!
I've seen these popping up allover the place, really cheap USB devices.
https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/12065/beware-viruses-hidden-e-cigarette-chargers/
Now, most businesses are very aware risks of the risks items such as USB thumb drives can be their systems, as these are a notorious vector for spreading computer viruses, and have instituted strict policies about their use (although personal users remain at high risk).
JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)But I guess its about eBola.
greytdemocrat
(3,299 posts)Kelvin Mace
(17,469 posts)So far all I have seen is various news reports citing each other, but the original source of the story?
So while e-cigarettes may be better for your health than real smokes, charging them up through your computers USB port thats the narrow slot you stick your phone cable into can be a way to infect your computer with malware, experts say.
Thats apparently what one executive at a large corporation found out after he quit smoking and switched to e-cigarettes made in China, according to a recent post on the social media forum Reddit. The executive had a malware infection on his computer from which the source could not be determined, wrote an IT guy at the company. After all traditional means of infection were covered, IT started looking into other possibilities.
The made in China e-cigarette had malware hardcoded into the charger, and when plugged into a computers USB port the malware phoned home and infected the system.
If it sounds crazy, tech security experts confirmed that e-cigarette chargers or anything, really, that can be inserted into a USB port can be a means of infecting your computer.
So, the whole story is based on the claims of anonymous poster on Reddit about something that could happen, but with no evidence that it actually did.
Believe this story when someone reliable actually examines a charger that turns out to be infected that was actually sold on the commercial market and is not a "proof of concept" example.
RKP5637
(67,032 posts)Kelvin Mace
(17,469 posts)the first story discusses the existence of WireLurker which can infect OS X and IOS systems via USB, that would be any USB, not just e-cigs.
The second story from The Guardian cites anonymous Reddit source, as does the Mirror, The Register and The Washington Post story. The WireLurker problem is over a year old, so our only claim that e-cigs are a malware vector are multiple stories in the Corporate Media which all source to Reddit. Not exactly rigorous journalism.
Is it possible? Yes. Is there credible evidence it has happened. No.
RKP5637
(67,032 posts)Kelvin Mace
(17,469 posts)My objection is that when the media hypes something like this, it distracts from the real threat, which is you shouldn't be sticking strange USB devices of any sort into your computer without thought. It is kind of like stories accusing people of being infected with Ebola just because they have been in Africa. Is it possibly true, yes, if the people have actually been somewhere in Africa that has an actual outbreak. People get all worked up about these stories, then don't see the bus that hits them while they have their nose buried in their cell phone.
The greater risk of plugging an e-cig charger into your computer is that the poorly made electronics will fry your system. I have seen some shoddy stuff coming from China.
dembotoz
(16,740 posts)hooking stuff to the cpu that do not have to be is just dumb
djean111
(14,255 posts)Any USB can have a virus, and people don't usually virus-check them.
djean111
(14,255 posts)I never thought about it, until it happened to me, ten years ago.
RKP5637
(67,032 posts)the shelf, but only OEM. Probably that's why I've been spared. I've mentioned it to several people now and they had not thought a lot about it either. Yes, definitely, more people should know about it.
djean111
(14,255 posts)working in Portugal, lost the use of all of our laptops by passing around a flash drive full of documents.
And it was not the documents, we could attach them to emails and send with no virus, we could burn to a CD and share them that way. The damned flash drive had the virus. Happened to me once with Magic Jack, too. The people who make the USBs can embed viruses. Not surprising some Chinese do it, and would not be surprised if the NSA snooped around using hacks on USBs. People buy them like candy nowadays.
RKP5637
(67,032 posts)dirt cheap on the rack by the checkout register. I was amazed at how cheap they were ... now I wonder how many of them had viruses of sorts. I didn't get any, didn't need any.
dilby
(2,273 posts)First USB chargers are not USB drives, they just use a USB cable and can draw power from a USB port to charge a device. My bicycle lights are charged via USB. If e-cigs were shipping with USB drives instead of just the chargers when you plugged it in you would see a drive become available on your computer. Next issue is that if some malware was on a theoretical e-cig that had this supposed USB drive instead of a charger then you would have to execute the malware for it to infect your computer, just plugging in a USB device with malware on it will not do anything to your computer unless you are running an old version of Windows XP that does not have the autorun patch applied.
Finally it would be possible to create a chip with firmware on it that would run on its own and could force the install of a virus on your computer. However the cost of creating this chip and then bundling it into an e-cig just doesn't make sense, furthermore taking apart the e-cig would expose the chip and thus expose the company who is producing them. I could see a government spy agency making one of these and slipping it to someone who they know would use it on a computer with sensitive information. I don't see them mass producing them and selling them down at the local Quicky Mart so they can get your grandmas internet cat picture collection.
RKP5637
(67,032 posts)http://www.idigitaltimes.com/usb-condom-protects-your-phone-viruses-and-data-thefts-363836