A terrible malware "USBee" that can steal data even from a PC isolated from the network if infected

ByEpicantus

A terrible malware that you can send data secretly to a remote place using the USB device installed in the computer "USBee"Has appeared.

Meet USBee, the malware that uses USB drives to covertly jump airgaps | Ars Technica
http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/08/meet-usbee-the-malware-that-uses-usb-drives-to-covertly-jump-airgaps/


With information leaked by Edward Snowden in 2013, it became clear that the device called "CottonMouth" is capable of quietly extracting specific data from a computer using a USB device. In CottonMouth, it was necessary to attach dedicated hardware to the USB device beforehand and connect it to the computer you want to steal the data, but if you do this, the computer located in the isolated place from the Internet and other networks It will be possible to steal data from.

Researchers who were investigating such a terrible spy tool succeeded in developing even more awesome things. What, researchers developed software. This makes it possible to use a USB device which is not added with any hands as a transmitter, and it makes it possible to steal data even from a PC isolated from the network. The horrible software name is "USBee", which is named for it to be able to collect data from various places like a bee. In addition, USBee can change the USB device installed inside the target computer that steals data to transmitter, so it is not even necessary to make direct contact with the target computer.

A researcher involved in the development of USBee and a researcher at Ben-Glion University in Israel said, "We utilize the electromagnetic radiation of the USB dongle in software, a way to steal data from a remote location even though it is a short distance Unlike other methods, our method does not require any hardware to transmit some radio frequency inside the USB device. "

USBee can operate on a USB 2.0 compliant storage device, and data transfer seems to be 80 bytes per second. The effective range of USBee differs depending on the infected USB device, and in the case of thumb size USB memory etc. the range of data transmission is about 9 ft (about 2.7 m), but in the case of cable attached type the cable part is antenna It seems that the transmission range extends to 26 feet (about 8 meters) because it plays a role. USB device infected with USBee transmits data as electromagnetic signal, but it can be received using GNU radio receiver and demodulator.

A research group at Ben-Glion University in Israel who developed USBee shoots and demonstrates the state of the demonstration experiment of USBee with a movie.

USBee: Jumping the air-gap with USB - YouTube


It is this computer that steals data. It is not connected to the Internet and other networks, wireless communication devices such as Wi-Fi / Bluetooth are also not installed. Even speakers are not installed.


Only the USB cable is attached.


And in another room PC connected with antenna for receiving electromagnetic radiation transmitted from the USB device.


When the computer is infected with USBee, the internal data is transmitted by electromagnetic radiation without permission. It is a terrible malware that data is stolen from a USB device, which is different from security and Internet awareness, Wi-Fi in general, etc.