Virus spread through usb drives

The Stuxnet worm was one of the year's high-profile threats that relied on USB drives. In July, Stuxnet targeted PCs running software that managed large-scale industrial control systems in major manufacturing and utility companies by exploiting a then-unpatched vulnerability in Windows's shortcut files. Microsoft issued an emergency "out-of-band" security update on Aug. The USB infection vector isn't new. Two years ago, the Conficker worm made headlines worldwide after it spread using flash drives, among other avenues.

Earlier this week, U. Your email address will not be published. Reaper is a nation-state sponsored APT actor. Recently, we had an opportunity to perform a deeper investigation on a host compromised by this group. The APT trends reports are based on our threat intelligence research and provide a representative snapshot of what we have discussed in greater detail in our private APT reports.

This is our latest installment, focusing on activities that we observed during Q3 All Rights Reserved. Registered trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. Solutions for:. Content menu Close. Threats Threats. Categories Categories. Authors Kaspersky. Introduction In , researchers from the University of Illinois left unlabelled USB flash drives around the university campus to see what would happen.

Key findings USB devices and other removable media are being used to spread cryptocurrency mining software — and have been since at least Some victims were found to have been carrying the infection for years.

The rate of detection for the most popular bitcoin miner, Trojan. One in 10 of all users hit by removable media infections in was targeted with this crypto-miner around 9. The Stuxnet exploit, CVE, remains one of the top 10 malicious exploits spread via removable media. Emerging markets are the most vulnerable to malicious infection spread by removable media — with Asia, Africa and South America among the most affected — but isolated hits were also detected in countries in Europe and North America.

Dark Tequila, a complex banking malware reported on August 21, has been claiming consumer and corporate victims in Mexico since at least , with the infection spreading mainly through USB devices. Source: KSN USBs as a tool for advanced threat actors USB devices appeal to attackers targeting computer networks that are not connected to the internet — such as those powering critical national infrastructure. Source: KSN If the exploit detections provide an indication of the volume of malware being transmitted via removable media such as USBs, the following illustrate the kind of malware being distributed in this way.

Malware delivered via removable media The top malware spread via removable media has stayed relatively consistent since at least Miners — rare but persistent USB devices are also being used to spread cryptocurrency mining software. An Iranian double agent working for Israel used a standard thumb drive carrying a deadly payload to infect Iran's Natanz nuclear facility with the highly destructive Stuxnet computer worm, according to a story by ISSSource.

Stuxnet quickly propagated throughout Natanz -- knocking that facility offline and at least temporarily crippling Iran's nuclear program -- once a user did nothing more than click on a Windows icon. The worm was discovered nearly two years ago. As CNET first reported in August , Stuxnet, as a worm intended to hit critical infrastructure companies, wasn't meant to remove data from Natanz. Rather, it left a back door that was meant to be accessed remotely to allow outsiders to stealthily control the plant.

USB thumb drives and flash drives absolutely can transfer viruses. Become a Patron of Ask Leo! Malware can be written to use USB drives to transfer themselves to other computers. To avoid this in the future, I suggest you do two things.

If your security software allows you to do so, run a scan on the thumb drive before you do anything else with its contents. Subscribe to Confident Computing! Less frustration and more confidence, solutions, answers, and tips in your inbox every week. Download right-click, Save-As Duration: — 3. Back in the days before the IBM PC and networks became popular, the hot bed of virus spreading were the Apple IIs and Macs because many schools had them in labs for anyone to plug their floppy disks in and use.

The viruses would use the floppy disk the same way current ones can use a memory stick so that they would infect the next computer that it was plugged into. If you work at a school assume that students and many teachers are not careful at all about viruses check with your IT people to find out if they are doing anything to block viruses.

You live in a dangerous environment for them. Sure, turning off autoplay, autorun, or any auto features may make things a little bit more inconvenient.