3 ms·

Did you look at the picture? The lines are not connected at all.

by 21 8y ago

SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
I'm referring to the ones that provide power to the fan, not the data lines.
albertgoeswoof 8y ago
You could fit an entire array of mics, sensors and radios inside the fan that are powered by the USB port. No need to connect to the laptop to record and broadcast info. Pretty unlikely though.
- therein 8y ago
  To me, it looked like the plastic molding was oversized for the circuitry inside, which makes me think there may be variants of these fans. This was the `NOP` variant while perhaps others have `malware drop`, `GPS beacon`, `audio capture` or some other capabilities added inside the same chassis with maximum ease. Of course all of this is entirely speculative. Maybe this design was cheaper to produce or simply shown to be sturdier compared to a smaller alternative. It could even be that they had an earlier circuitry design that was slightly larger and then they realized it could be simplified but at that point that had ordered the chassis.
- unixhero 8y ago
  Not really. There was a microphone inside a gift that was in the oval office given by the Soviets, which broadcasted info for many years. They called it "the thing".
  - sitkack 8y ago
    And the microphone was just the diaphragm that a microwave beam was bounced off of. The device itself was entirely passive.
codedokode 8y ago
What if there are chips and wires inside PCB?
- FooHentai 8y ago
  That was my thought as well - No visible connection on the surface of a PCB does not prove there is no connection on a pin, only that there is no connection on the surface. Multilayer PCBs are commonplace, and a stealthy version which does not show the layers at the edge of the board and encapsulates ICs is not a stretch. All that said I agree with the sentiment in other posts here that this attack vector is so obvious that the likelihood is higher that this is simple trolling. Then again, that kind of 'discovery' trolling also provides signals intelligence, of a kind, in observing the reactions to it.
mikec3010 8y ago
they dont need to be connected. you could have an airgapped circuit with power fed from the rotation of the fan itself.

Did you look at the picture? The lines are not connected at all.

by 21 8y ago

Did you look at the picture? The lines are not connected at all.

SketchySeaBeast 8y ago

I'm referring to the ones that provide power to the fan, not the data lines.

albertgoeswoof 8y ago

You could fit an entire array of mics, sensors and radios inside the fan that are powered by the USB port. No need to connect to the laptop to record and broadcast info. Pretty unlikely though.

therein 8y ago
To me, it looked like the plastic molding was oversized for the circuitry inside, which makes me think there may be variants of these fans. This was the `NOP` variant while perhaps others have `malware drop`, `GPS beacon`, `audio capture` or some other capabilities added inside the same chassis with maximum ease. Of course all of this is entirely speculative. Maybe this design was cheaper to produce or simply shown to be sturdier compared to a smaller alternative. It could even be that they had an earlier circuitry design that was slightly larger and then they realized it could be simplified but at that point that had ordered the chassis.
unixhero 8y ago
Not really. There was a microphone inside a gift that was in the oval office given by the Soviets, which broadcasted info for many years. They called it "the thing".
- sitkack 8y ago
  And the microphone was just the diaphragm that a microwave beam was bounced off of. The device itself was entirely passive.

codedokode 8y ago

What if there are chips and wires inside PCB?

FooHentai 8y ago
That was my thought as well - No visible connection on the surface of a PCB does not prove there is no connection on a pin, only that there is no connection on the surface. Multilayer PCBs are commonplace, and a stealthy version which does not show the layers at the edge of the board and encapsulates ICs is not a stretch. All that said I agree with the sentiment in other posts here that this attack vector is so obvious that the likelihood is higher that this is simple trolling. Then again, that kind of 'discovery' trolling also provides signals intelligence, of a kind, in observing the reactions to it.

mikec3010 8y ago

they dont need to be connected. you could have an airgapped circuit with power fed from the rotation of the fan itself.