Use an air-gapped PC You don’t have to bring your laptop into the wilderness to make sure there’s no internet connection, but if you want to, well, you do you. Needless to say, each time I’m handed one of these devices, I cringe at the thought of actually having to open it.īut, there are a number of ways you can open them safely. Other exploits capture or modify files as they leave the device, acting as a man-in-the-middle and leaving you vulnerable even when sending encrypted files. Each uses firmware, which could be modified to serve as a keylogger-a device that records each keystroke on your machine once it’s installed. Once inserted into one of your PC’s ports, it could automatically download an app, prompt you to download one, or run malware that could steal or destroy data on your computer.Īnd then there’s the USB drive itself. Or, perhaps a more unscrupulous employee or contractor actively sought to turn the drive into a spy device-a Trojan horse of sorts-that carries tiny bits of executable code. A public relations team member, for example, could have unknowingly transferred malware to the device when uploading its content. While convenient, there’s a lot that could go wrong. At media functions, for example, these flash storage devices contain product photos, press information, and details about businesses that hope the journalists who receive them will cover their latest offering. Companies like to hand out USB drives like candy.
