Dangers Inside USB Drives

Stuxnet, a "groundbreaking" piece of malware. One of the most sophisticated malware attacks ever to hit the computer world. It was discovered in June and has spread to millions of machines around the world.

How does this relate to USB drives you ask yourself?

Stuxnet was the first digital worm to infiltrate into USB drives infecting the drive itself and every computer it is plugged into. They have been referred to being "misquitoes of the digital world -- small, portable, and everywhere." This form of malware targeted Windows based PCs "that managed large-scale industrial-control systems in manufacturing and utility firms." When it was first publicly seen in June, there was a "zero-day" vulneribility in Windows and was spread through Flash drives everywhere. A zero-day vulneribility literally means, the day on which a computer security vulnerability is exploited before security experts can address it.
According to Symantec researchers, by July 60% of all infected PCs were located in Iran which was clearly the hardest hit of all. In August, Microsoft issued an emergency update to patch the bug.

Over time we have all learned the dangers of clicking on e-mails from strangers and to be cautious of how important it is to keep your passwords secure. USB drives have now become another danger to be warned about. Being that they are portable drives and are so small and easy to get around, it is easier for types of Malware like this to be transferred. Think twice about who's or what flash drive you are plugging into your computer. It is human nature to find a flash drive and want to plug it into a computer to find out what information is on it.

We ask you to be cautious, not to trade USB sticks with anyone, dont pick up any USB sticks off the street or any unknown USBs lying around and plug them into your machine. Lets try to win the battle against the dangers of USB drives.

Read more on Computer World and on Slate.