3 ms·

I wonder if there's a market for USB hubs with breakers/fuses to protect against this. Probably only security researchers plugging in known-sketchy things thoug

I wonder if there's a market for USB hubs with breakers/fuses to protect against this. Probably only security researchers plugging in known-sketchy things though.

tentacleuno 2y ago
The thing is, adding an inline fuse doesn't guarantee that the host would be safe: if the fuse doesn't blow quick enough and lets enough current through, that's bad (plus, you'd have to add a fuse to P-, D+, D- and P+ just to be sure, not to mention USB3). The best option would probably be a complete isolation of the USB device from the host, with a hub that then transfers D- and D+ to the host without a direct electrical connection (while providing its own P- and P+). Think TOSlink, but for USB.
- utensil4778 2y ago
  Galvanic USB isolators are a thing. Mostly for medical applications, but it's literally a chip you can buy off the shelf that provides total electrical isolation (with the addition of an isolated 5v supply).
- 6SixTy 2y ago
  There are digital isolator ICs, like ADUM3166 from Analog Devices, though like none of them are for USB 3.0+ Awful lot of isolation transformers in the IC diagram, so I'm sure that something like the transformers used for Ethernet could be reused to protect basically any USB ports from a USB killer attack, though they are awfully big for a smartphone
- cartoonfoxes 2y ago
  The industrial hubs I'm familar with use optoisolators to separate the host and attached devices, I think. Advantech has a USB-3 version (P/N USB-4630), but I can't speak to these personally.
cartoonfoxes 2y ago
Absolutley. In a hardware-development context, we use them to stop frying computers with broken devices. I've had good experience with the BB-UHR304 from Advantech. They're expensive and occasionally sacrificial, but cheaper than replacing an average pc / laptop. https://www.advantech.com/en/products/c9300564-0829-46eb-955c-0953dc5e757b/bb-uhr304/mod_a225fa90-fd2b-4a9c-8dfa-6192876974b7 https://www.advantech.com/en/products/c9300564-0829-46eb-955...

I wonder if there's a market for USB hubs with breakers/fuses to protect against this. Probably only security researchers plugging in known-sketchy things though.

tentacleuno 2y ago

The thing is, adding an inline fuse doesn't guarantee that the host would be safe: if the fuse doesn't blow quick enough and lets enough current through, that's bad (plus, you'd have to add a fuse to P-, D+, D- and P+ just to be sure, not to mention USB3). The best option would probably be a complete isolation of the USB device from the host, with a hub that then transfers D- and D+ to the host without a direct electrical connection (while providing its own P- and P+). Think TOSlink, but for USB.

utensil4778 2y ago
Galvanic USB isolators are a thing. Mostly for medical applications, but it's literally a chip you can buy off the shelf that provides total electrical isolation (with the addition of an isolated 5v supply).
6SixTy 2y ago
There are digital isolator ICs, like ADUM3166 from Analog Devices, though like none of them are for USB 3.0+ Awful lot of isolation transformers in the IC diagram, so I'm sure that something like the transformers used for Ethernet could be reused to protect basically any USB ports from a USB killer attack, though they are awfully big for a smartphone
cartoonfoxes 2y ago
The industrial hubs I'm familar with use optoisolators to separate the host and attached devices, I think. Advantech has a USB-3 version (P/N USB-4630), but I can't speak to these personally.

cartoonfoxes 2y ago

Absolutley. In a hardware-development context, we use them to stop frying computers with broken devices. I've had good experience with the BB-UHR304 from Advantech. They're expensive and occasionally sacrificial, but cheaper than replacing an average pc / laptop. https://www.advantech.com/en/products/c9300564-0829-46eb-955c-0953dc5e757b/bb-uhr304/mod_a225fa90-fd2b-4a9c-8dfa-6192876974b7 https://www.advantech.com/en/products/c9300564-0829-46eb-955...