G+_Steven Atkinson Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Padre mentioned in a recent Know How that there was no way to protect yourself from bad USB. This is another interesting use of a Raspberry Pi to take files from one USB drive and copy them in a safer alternative format to another device. I am sure it would be feasible for someone to compromise the Raspberry Pi with a bad USB device and remove the effectiveness of this but for many the threat from malware on a USB is likely to be a much more significant problem. Not only does it fix a real problem we can make it ourselves. http://www.circl.lu/projects/CIRCLean/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_John Mink Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Except that now you've compromised the Pi, and it's connect led to your computer. So now they're both compromised! What you really need, if you're intent on solving this, is a USB hub with a custom USB driver. And thst driver would recognize when a device changed types without being physically unplugged. Maybe even have it alert you "this device just tried to change from a keyboard to a mass storage device" or something along those lines. You could use a raspberry Pi THAT way, I suppose, but not just as a middleman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I don't know for sure, but I suspect the Pi would be less likely to be affected by Bad USB than a Windows or Mac OS. That is, until it becomes popular to use that process. Not that the Pi can't be hacked, but it's not as popular as the bigger OSs. In other words, it sounds like a great idea and it's something I thought about too. I wouldn't consider it a guaranteed safety, but it's better than a direct connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Steven Atkinson Posted November 2, 2015 Author Share Posted November 2, 2015 I'm no expert on bad USB but from what I have read it could be used to affect any device that accept a USB device. I also did not see any reports of their being any live exploits, though given the difficulty detecting it could explain that. What definitely is happening is USB devices being passed round full of malware. Using a Pi to transfer files from an untrusted device to a trusted one in an alternative safe format could be a reasonably cheap way of keeping potentially dangerous files from your computer. The value of this depends on your use of USB devices. If all you do is buy clean branded devices for your personal use then it's value is limited. If however you have to deal with devices from unknown and untrusted sources then this could save you from a lot of trouble regardless of OS. Yes, some OS's are more vulnerable than others but should you take the risk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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