Ecuador: someone is mailing USB sticks with explosives in them to journalists

[thewayne]

One exploded as a journo at a TV station plugged it in to his computer, causing mild injuries to his hand and face. Another sent to a radio station did not explode - the drive was plugged into an extension cord and didn't get enough voltage to detonate.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/03/journalist-plugs-in-unknown-usb-drive-mailed-to-him-it-exploded-in-his-face/

https://it.slashdot.org/story/23/03/22/2048210/explosives-replace-malware-as-the-scariest-thing-a-usb-stick-may-hide

Comments

[kathmandu]

Yeeech. One would've hoped the tiny space in a thumb drive would not be enough for any significant amount of explosive...

[thewayne]

If it fully detonated, it might be able to maim your hand, or if an unlucky fragment got blown into your eye and you weren't wearing glasses, could conceivably kill.  I expect a lot of reporters there are buying extension cables for low-power hubs to give them some space in case of a bang. I have two laptops, a high-power Asus gaming laptop and a MacBook Pro.  Interestingly, the Asus - even though it has a USB-C port which my Mac does not - is much lower-powered USB ports.  I can not charge my iPad on the Asus, no problems on my Mac.  So the Asus would be much safer to plug those booby-trapped flash drives in to, not that I would want to handle them!!!