5 ms·
When you see how small some of these devices are it makes you realize how easy it would be for a malicious actor to bug just about anything you own. A simple ce
by whalesalad 7y ago
When you see how small some of these devices are it makes you realize how easy it would be for a malicious actor to bug just about anything you own. A simple cell phone charger becomes a listening device that could have an LTE modem hiding in it.
People are worried when they find a raspberry pi sitting in the network rack - and rightfully so - but fail to realize that you can achieve pretty much the same thing by hiding in plain sight.
Imagine how much you could fit into a 6-port commodity surge protector.
- adrianpike 7y agoGlade plug-ins are innocuous, roomy inside, and have convenient constant 120v. Take a peek next time you're in a semi-public space if there's any that are suspiciously not-smelly.
- lifeisstillgood 7y agoAnd one could easily walk round many building just plugging them in. I mean how many people would remove a glade-plug-in just in case Dorothy from accounts likes the smell? Dorothy might just replenish the scent dispenser every six weeks.
- Polylactic_acid 7y agoI would unplug them to avoid creating air pollution.
- lifeisstillgood 7y agoDorothy would give you a hard stare. And defund your project.
- catalogia 7y agoDorothy doesn't have to see you do it. Do it earlier in the morning or later in the evening, or during lunch. Which, incidentally, is how Dorothy the corporate spy might have installed the device without anybody noticing her be the one to do it.
- lifeisstillgood 7y agoSo, unplug the device and leave it on Alice's Desk. if Dorothy gives you a hard stare, then you know she must have had access to the video feed in the plug-in, and so is the corporate spy. But if Dorothy instead gives Alice a hard stare, Dorothy is innocent. But if you return that morning to find the device plugged back in, Alice must be the spy. Unless Bob from HR got in early that morning ...
- Zenst 7y agoWhich would save HR doing it and sending a memo about health and safety and asthma can kill due to these, possible.... Yeah, that is exactly how that would play out in many companies. At least in the UK.
- r00fus 7y agoWithout ruining the main use case - is there some way to sterilize or nuke things like a basic cell phone charger when it should have no radio-frequency capability?
- Avamander 7y ago> is there some way to sterilize or nuke things like a basic cell phone charger when it should have no radio-frequency capability? If you want Fast Charging, short circuit protection or similar, then no, it has to have ICs and those could do a lot of things that are hard to detect.
- Polylactic_acid 7y agoYou have to open it up and inspect the hardware.
- trevyn 7y agoIncluding de-capping the chips and having a look at the floorplans.
- RL_Quine 7y agoNope. Even USB cables now have active electronics and a microprocessor in them.
- outworlder 7y agoBatteries too.
- BubRoss 7y agoThey don't have to. USB is four wires.
- Piskvorrr 7y ago...and 500 mA maximum. Anything above that, and things get Complicated.
- Zenst 7y ago> A simple cell phone charger becomes a listening device that could have an LTE modem hiding in it. You can already get USB cables that have a hidden mic and sim, so if powered you can phone up and listen in. Those a very cheap and google shows this, but this is more adventurous. As for targeting hardware and security - how many people would question a fancy free mouse or keyboard arriving in the internal post as it happened to of been dropped of at reception. Great pentesting trick btw. As for chips with `hidden/undocumented` remote activated features. If it was documented, would it be bad or something you can use or actively block off. When they are undocumented, well - hard not to think the worst. But then, CPU's today, not fully documented when you can't hack away at the microcode and management and whatever else is DRM'd out of your reach. If Intel was a Chinese company instead of American - how would Americans feel about Intel chips? That is an interesting thought exercise.
- ta999999171 7y agoExactly the same, because citizens in US don't understand technology - just enough to do the books.
- big_chungus 7y ago> citizens in US I don't think this is any better elsewhere. If anything, the higher concentration of tech in America might make some of her citizens better prepared. But most everyone doesn't care beyond "making the darn box work."
- sgt 7y agoAgreed. People in the US are generally more tech aware than most other nations on Earth.
- c0restraint 7y agoYup -- these already exist. I can't find the 6-port commodity surge protector implant (I've seen it before), but these are the other relevant tools you're thinking of: https://shop.hak5.org/collections/network-implants https://shop.hak5.org/collections/network-implants
- msh 7y agoDo you have links to any of the devices? There are no pictures in the article.