A USB Killer Stick That Physically Destroys A Laptop

Calling it the “USB Killer v2”.

The USB Killer 2.0 looks like any other USB flash drive, but connecting it to a computer discharges a negative 220-volt charge, frying the port and potentially the entire motherboard, turning your computer into an expensive brick. However it seems that in the case of the USB Killer, even the strongest anti-virus software won’t be able to stop it as it has the ability to literally fry your computer’s innards, rendering your computer/laptop into a smouldering hunk of plastic and metal.

Dark Purple claim in their Russian-language blog post that the attack is not just limited to computers, but can used to incapacitate nearly anything equipped with a USB drive.

While this development certainly highlights the importance of being cautious when it comes to examining an unknown USB stick, there is a few consolation.

There’s nothing to suggest that Dark Purple designed the device for malicious purposes. It would appear that the Russian electronics engineer behind the first version has resurfaced with a version 2.0 of his USB Killer dongle, and which delivers more than twice the oomph of the first version.

He has since ordered a replacement for the damaged tech, explaining that in spite of the electric blast, it is unlikely that the hard drive and the information on it have been affected.

He said he was inspired by a story about a man stealing a USB drive from someone’s backpack.

Dark Purple then tries multiple times to turn the computer back on, without success.

They discussed creating a USB flash drive that would burn a laptop down.

0 works by drawing a small electrical charge from the host device, and storing it in an internal capacitor.

“At the same time, the field transistor opens”.

When the voltage on capacitor increases to -7V, the transistor closes and the DC/DC starts.