USB-C head-to-head comparison \ stacker news ~tech

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USB-C head-to-head comparison www.lumafield.com/article/usb-c-cable-charger-head-to-head-comparison-apple-thunderbolt-amazon-basics

480 sats \ 12 comments \ @co574 9 Dec tech

Last year, private researchers CT scanned many apple's Thunderbolt 4 connectors and were astonished to find a 10-layer PCB with lots of active electronics.

A lot of people saw the scan and wondered whether malicious electronics could be hidden in a tiny USB connector

and the answer is YES.

It can even look like an ordinary USB cable (video on the right), but it can log keystrokes, inject malicious code, and communicate with an attacker via WiFi, etc.

You can explore the scans for yourself!

view all related items

336 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford 9 Dec

A lot of people saw the scan and wondered whether malicious electronics could be hidden in a tiny USB connector

Uh.... yeah. You can buy them here. The NSA has had these for who knows how long.

The O.MG Cable is a hand made USB cable with an advanced implant hidden inside. It is designed to allow your Red Team to emulate attack scenarios of sophisticated adversaries. Until now, a cable like this would cost $20,000 (ex: NSA's COTTONMOUTH-I). These cables will allow you to test new detection opportunities for your defense teams. They are also extremely impactful tools for teaching and training.

There are also detectors.

Malicious Cable Detector by O.MG - Hak5

17 sats \ 2 replies \ @justin_shocknet 9 Dec

HWW enjoyooors in disbelief

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @doubleplusgood23 9 Dec

This is a very well known thing? Coinkite sells a cable that’s “power only” and even encourages using their 9V adapter if you want to eliminate that entire class of attack.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @justin_shocknet 9 Dec

Sure you can mitigate one vulnerability at a time, the point is more that HWWs open more cans of worms than they close... It's just another hustle

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford 9 Dec

I want a CT scanner.... that's my take away

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @OT 9 Dec

So that's why they're so expensive!

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @doubleplusgood23 9 Dec

I forget how many boomers here didn’t come at Bitcoin from the tech or FOSS side and come at it from a purely economic one.

0 sats \ 4 replies \ @k00b 9 Dec

This is really cool. I have one of those really expensive Apple cables for charging/connecting my laptop my monitor which I bought after a cheaper usb-C cable failed on me. I always suspected I might've gotten robbed but it looks at least somewhat worth it.

They have a video exploring and explaining the scans:

19 sats \ 2 replies \ @kepford 9 Dec

That cable is pretty wild. Honestly looking at these cables makes me think we've lost the plot with computers.

12 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford 9 Dec

I'm not trying to undercut the engineering. Just saying...

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @k00b 9 Dec

I think it's a sign of

how much data and variety of data/power we expect to transfer near instantly point to point
the relative slowness of standards bodies
the shrinking form factors of our computers

I'm not sure how we don't end up with smart cables.

17 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford 9 Dec

USB is dangerous!