A USB cable can steal your data (Phone/PC…)

Did you know that a what seems to be a regular USB charging cable or any other kind of USB cable actually may contain a super tiny computer that can infect your device.
For example your phone or computer with anything the attacker/hacker want.

The computer inside the malicious USB cable can also create a WIFI network so the attacker/hacker can connect directly to your device.

These malicious USB cables look identical to a regular USB cable.
So don’t borrow or buy cables from people or sellers that you cant trust.

Examples of that the hacker can do

* The hacker can for example create a WIFI network.
* Access files on your phone/computer.
* Create sync accounts. For example to steal data from iCloud.
* Give the hacker full keyboard access.
* Send SMS messages.
* Share your whole hard drives over the network.
* Run scripts, like Powershell scripts.
* Turn on your webcam and take photos.
* Run a keylogger so they can see anything you write.
* And the list goes on…

Antivirus

Antivirus scanners can not detect a malicious USB cable because there is no virus to detect.
Malicious USB commands reach directly into your USB driver stack, exploiting your device directly.

But you should always have a active antivirus software running on your computer anyway.
Avira is free for PC, Mac, Android and iOS. Read more about Avira here.

I think you can block some of the attacks on a phone or computer by setting up your device so that they don’t share any data by default and don’t do anything automatically when a USB have been connected.

Avira Antivir Personal – Free Antivirus Software

If you have used a windows system, you know you need to be protected by an anti-virus program at all time.

These systems are constantly attacked by viruses and malicious programs. One of the best programs you could use to prevent these viruses and malicious programs is Avira AntiVir Professional.

This is a simple, light weight easy to use antivirus program that gives you 100% protection against viruses.

This is available for both Windows and UNIX. If you use Avira AntiVir, you will have all the things you expect out of anti-virus software. It performs regular scans, actively checks for viruses, quarantine, block, delete, and so on.

The user interface with Avira AntiVir is very simple and easy to follow. To top it all, this is a freeware.

You should be careful when you are installing this on a commercial system. This application is designed for home-users for personal use only. According to the license provided, this is not intended for commercial or business use.

Avira Antivir Personal - Free Antivirus Software 1

Free antivirus program for PC, Mac, Android & iOS

As I said, it’s really hard to protect your device from these kind of attacks but you should always have a active antivirus program om your computer in each case.


Free Antivirus You can download the antivirus program called Avira from their website:
Avira Antivir Personal – Free Antivirus Software