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You could build a device that's a lot smaller / less obvious than a cell phone for less than $20. With an SMD AVR microcontroller, you could power it direct fr
by nupark 16y ago
You could build a device that's a lot smaller / less obvious than a cell phone for less than $20.
With an SMD AVR microcontroller, you could power it direct from the USB port, and the device would be not much bigger than a USB stick. In fact, you could embed it in a USB flash drive case (I suppose that bonus points would be awarded for also operating as a USB flash drive).
Example: http://www.obdev.at/products/vusb/hidkeys.html http://www.obdev.at/products/vusb/hidkeys.html
[Edit]
Some quick googling shows that this is not a new idea:
http://www.taranfx.com/pc-mac-usb-hid-hack http://www.taranfx.com/pc-mac-usb-hid-hack
http://www.pjrc.com/teensy/ http://www.pjrc.com/teensy/
$18 for a 1.2" by 0.7" USB-enabled ATMEGA32U4 -- and the only reason it's so 'large' is that they break out the atmega's pins to support prototyping, incude a SPST (switch), etc.
- JonnieCache 16y agoThis would be a good start: http://generichid.sourceforge.net/index.html http://generichid.sourceforge.net/index.html A toolkit for making your own USB human interface devices. Supports a variety of chipsets, including the AVR variants in the parent comment. Comes with its own crazy visual drag and drop programming language. Get involved! EDIT: Aha! found the link I was looking for: "Program Your Own Mayhem-Causing USB Dongle" http://hackaday.com/2010/04/05/program-your-own-mayhem-causing-usb-dongle/ http://hackaday.com/2010/04/05/program-your-own-mayhem-causi... It's a video presentation BTW. And it is seriously devious: "There’s also a light sensor that can be used to activate a command once an unknowing victim has shut off the lights in the office and left for the day." EDIT2: For bonus evil-points, solder it into a USB hub, run a real HID into the same hub, and hide the whole thing inside the HID, with the hub's host port wired up to the cable of the HID. Read the link below to see what I mean. http://www.thice.nl/hide-your-data-in-plain-sight-usb-hardware-hiding/ http://www.thice.nl/hide-your-data-in-plain-sight-usb-hardwa...
- spiffworks 16y agoIndeed, using a smartphone to emulate a keyboard is definitely overkill, but it is also a really effective mechanism. Nobody thinks twice before plugging someone else's phone into their computers.
- fhars 16y agoThe haunted USB cable uses this idea, too: http://imakeprojects.com/Projects/haunted-usb-cable/ http://imakeprojects.com/Projects/haunted-usb-cable/