Imagine a thief in the subway having stolen your USB key from your pocket without your knowledge. Once he gets home, he's probably curious about the storage capacity of his new drive and maybe finding some interesting content on it. The thief inserts the USB drive into his computer and instead of discovering all the private data it contains, his computer explodes in his face.
Perfect scenario for a film, isn't it? Well know that a Russian hacker calling himself Dark Purple would have developed a USB key which once connected to a computer would be able to burn out its circuits.
Called USB Killer, this key would contain a DC/DC converter accompanied by several capacitors which, once charged, would send the accumulated energy back to the machine to recharge again until the computer eventually exploded. The USB Killer would be capable of generating very significant voltage overloads, causing irreparable damage to PCs.
The designer of the USB Killer has widely unveiled its "product" on the internet by providing photos, diagrams, lists of components, etc.
The USB Killer could become a new form of attack in the future, as the site Hackaday, specializing in hacking, explains: “The USB interface is generally integrated into the processor in most modern laptops, it is which makes this attack very effective. »
Finally, I advise you to never use a USB key of unknown origin : While this will not surely burn your computer, it could still contain malware and infect your PC.