USBdriveby" Emulates Mouse and Keyboard to Hijack Computers

  • 18 December 2014
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By Eduard Kovacs on December 18, 2014
 
A $20 USB microcontroller that someone can wear around their neck can be used to weaponize mouse clicks and keyboard actions in an effort to install backdoors, evade firewalls and modify DNS settings in a matter of seconds, a researcher has demonstrated.
Security researcher Samy Kamkar has taken a Teensy 3.1 USB-based microcontroller and fitted it with software that can emulate a mouse and a keyboard when connected to a computer. The gadget, dubbed USBdriveby, leverages the fact that many systems blindly trust USB devices connected to them.
Once it's plugged in to a machine, USBdriveby immediately starts performing mouse and keyboard actions, which allows it to carry out a wide range of tasks, such as opening a backdoor, disabling the firewall, and controlling traffic flow by changing DNS settings. After the device is disconnected, the attacker has full access to the targeted computer.
"When you normally plug in a mouse or keyboard into a machine, no authorization is required to begin using them," the researcher explained. "The devices can simply begin typing and clicking. We exploit this fact by sending arbitrary keystrokes meant to launch specific applications (via Spotlight / Alfred / Quicksilver), permanently evade a local firewall (Little Snitch), install a reverse shell in crontab, and even modify DNS settings without any additional permissions."
 
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