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rhema
on Feb 20, 2019
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WiFi Hides Inside a USB Cable
Would a high voltage loop, for breaking components, be a good solution to an attack like this? Like, fry the electronic components to verify it's just plain metal on the insides?
proee
on Feb 20, 2019
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Perhaps, but it could start a fire. You might consider plugging into a power supply and measuring if there is any current draw.
walrus01
on Feb 20, 2019
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USB type A male-to-female inline ammeters are really cheap, and accurate to 0.1W. I got one for ten bucks.
foobar1962
on Feb 20, 2019
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How do you know THAT doesn’t have a surveillance device inside?
walrus01
on Feb 20, 2019
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Sort of a "it's turtles all the way down" type problem, but one could always x-ray it.
metaphor
on Feb 20, 2019
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+/-20mA seems a bit coarse...with modern low-power silicon, imagining it wouldn't be too difficult to skate under that radar.
ars
on Feb 20, 2019
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A USB C cable has active electronics inside it, they are used to define the wire gauge on the conductors and the length of the cable.
SlowRobotAhead
on Feb 20, 2019
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Right. Also the Apple cords have an entire ARM micro in them for cable authentication.
gumby
on Feb 20, 2019
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Likely fry the conductors in the cable too. Might as well cut the cable in half...or leave it in the home of your enemy.
timpattinson
on Feb 20, 2019
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Just do an insulation test at say 250V using a commonly available 'megger' device
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