Romanian Cyber Security Journal / Spring 2019, No. 1, Vol. 1

Raising Awareness of Cyber Security Concerns Regarding the Use of USB Peripherals

Marian TICU

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Abstract

The number and variety of types of attack vectors used by hackers are steadily increasing. The cyber attackers are constantly trying to adapt to the protective measures taken as a response to their actions and are searching for new methods to infect a system apart from the traditional infection methods that require the user to click on a link or run a file. One of these methods is the use of a USB device, specially built to incorporate malicious activities. There are currently both open-source projects and commercial products that use programmable USB devices which can be configured for malware purposes. The attacker can choose between building its own device or buying it. Either way, we need to be informed in order to be prepared for proactive defense against these cyber-attacks vectors.

Keywords

cyber-attacks, kill-switch, protection, rogue, USB, Awareness, device, malicious