USB Killer 2.0 Is A Flash Drive That Kills PCs

One of the ways that hackers and nefarious sorts trick people into putting strange USB drives into their computers is by simply leaving them lying around. Curious folks plug the drives into their USB ports out of curiosity of what is on the machine or a desire to try to help return the drive to the owner. Anyone who plugs a drive with USB Killer 2.0 into their USB port will end up with a dead computer.

When USB Killer 2.0 is plugged into a host computer, the USB gets power from the machine and a voltage converter inside charges internal capacitors to 220V. Once full charge is reached, the device releases a negative electric surge into the USB port of the host machine.

That surge damages the USB port and mainboard. The USB device will continue the charge and discharge cycle until the USB port is no longer functional and no more power can be drawn. While mainboard damage and USB port destruction is likely from the USB Killer 2.0 drive, the data stored on your hard drive is unlikely to be damaged.

The damage of the board is likely to cause the computer to be unable to boot until components are replaced. On platforms with the CPU and PCH in one chip, the whole chip is likely to be damaged by the surge. The device is capable of causing damage to any device with a USB port. USB Killer 2.0 is a newer iteration of dark Purple that dumped 110V into the target device USB port.

SOURCE: Net-security