Thread: Would You Plug Into These Mystery Drives?

"Across New York, there are USB drives embedded in walls, buildings and curbs. The idea is to create an anonymous, offline file-sharing network in public space. The drives are completely public and anyone can plug in to drop and download files.



It's part of an art project called "Dead Drops" by Aram Bartholl and I have to say, it's pretty awesomely creative. I mean, if I saw a USB stick stick out of a random wall, I'd be dying to know what's in there. I'd have to plug in. It'd also be interesting to see what people would anonymously share on the public drive, well, until some jackass decides to upload a virus to screw up everybody's computer."





I like the concept of offline file sharing, and the art projects looks cool, but this seems too tempting for people to exploit with viruses and other shenanigans. Would you plug your drive into just any hole? (Yes, I was trying at a sexual pun).

USB virus spread

I'd probably plug in with a netbook, or something similar that I wouldn't be too concerned about that I could easily just format afterwards. This idea sounds pretty sweet, but there are a lot of other factors I'm curious about. For one, what if somebody uploads a pirated movie to the drive, who is the responsible party for having shared the file in the event the RIAA or whatever wanted to prosecute? The uploader or the person the drive belongs to? How will they stand up to the weather? After a while it seems like they'd break unless they were shielded or something...

Its actually a really cool idea but like you said it has potential to be disastrous. If it went on long enough and the right douche seen this it would be over for everyone. I never really understood viruses. I mean, ok, If your going to steal someone's info I get it. You dont have to destroy their computer in the process though. I guess what I mean is that I dont understand why someone would just create a virus for destructions sake.

I would do it if I had a crappy computer that I didnt care about like speedsauce said but there is no way Id plug a mac book into that sucker.
I agree with some kind of cover too,weather is a serious factor for this idea,corrosion etc.

Still, cool idea!

First thing I thought when I saw that first picture is that someone would likely just come along and smash/break the end of the stick off.

I really like the idea -- very cool -- and it'd be great if they had some level of security that would at least keep away the everyday script kiddies... but I'm sure that someone will find some way to screw things up regardless.

Bit sad that the first thought with a creative project like this is how it is going to be destroyed/negatively modified etc... but oh well. Heh.

Originally Posted by arsenal112

USB virus spread

USB spreading is the easiest to counter yet so many people don't realize how easy it is. You just need to disable autorun on your PC/laptop. This is also one of the failures of M$ (I can say). Also, try not to double-click any USB drives. Examine it first by right clicking its drive and see if the default double-click action (seen as bold text) is something like "Expand" or "Open" and not some other random text, which can be done by placing a .js file on the flash drive. And my friend is stupid enough to simply double-click it, not even trying to right-click.

I hope the dead drives would help educating users in their basic digital security.

Ever heard of U3? They emulate CD drives to mount applications, disabling AutoRun and Autoplay won't do a thing. Where I work USB's aren't even allowed in the building.

Though this idea looks uber cool I'd probably accidentally bust the usb off the wall with my laptop, oops!

Originally Posted by oki

Ever heard of U3? They emulate CD drives to mount applications, disabling AutoRun and Autoplay won't do a thing.

I don't own a U3 (I don't think it exists in any store in our city) but as what I have read, that is the same as putting portable applications like this site has to offer (am I right?). Do you mean that apps can be launched automatically inside U3 even if autorun is disabled?

I used to play with these some years ago. But yeah, since the apps are mounted on the second partition there's no trace it was ever on your computer. Looking at your sig you're a linux user? Think about how linux mounts partitions and file systems.

We all know that Windows doesn’t autoplay autorun.inf for normal USB flash drives but then there is a type of USB flash drive called U3 smart drive which will automatically launch “U3 Launchpad” when plugged into a computer. What hackers do is the remove the U3 Launchpad and replace it with malicious programs. This is very dangerous because the hacker can program a script to extract and steal sensitive information such as visited sites, saved email and instant messenger passwords, wi-fi password, auto complete entries and etc… Other than stealing information, it can also be used to delete everything on a hard drive. Just wanted to clarify that it is not possible to do that on normal traditional USB flash drives. You will need a U3 smart drive such as SanDisk Cruzer Micro, SanDisk Cruzer Titanium and Memorex Mini TravelDrive.

Source: crack0hack.wetpaint.com

*note* Mods delete if this is inappropriate linking, sorry.