Threat, Vulnerabilities and Mitigations: Removable Media Threats

Question 1

What is one of the vulnerabilities that can be easily exposed?

Answer 1

While convenient, these typically small items can be big threats. In today’s world, we’re mostly referring to universal serial bus (USB) drives but others include removable flash drives, DVDs and compact discs (CDs), Secure Digital (SD) cards, and music players. These devices can be:

Stolen or lost, given their typically small size.

Infected.

Used to spread malware and viruses through malicious payloads.

Used to expose sensitive data.

Used to perform data exfiltration (exfil)

Question 2

What are the threats of Unauthorized USB drives?

Answer 2

Unauthorized USB drives: Could be inadvertent, such as when a user decides to use their personal USB at work and doesn’t know it’s unsanitary, or could be malicious when a threat actor:

Plugs in a USB or other removable media to a network to perpetuate malware or steal data, such as attacking an air-gapped system, which has no network connection to the outside world. An example is the Stuxnet virus: https://www.theverge.com/2012/4/12/2944329/stuxnet-computer-virus-planted-israeli-agent-iran.

Provides an infected USB to an unsuspecting victim.

Question 3

What are the threats of Rubber Duckies?

Answer 3

Rubber Duckies: Special types of USBs that a device thinks is a keyboard once plugged in. Can carry payloads that launch attacks and back doors. Here is an example: https://shop.hak5.org/products/usb-rubber-ducky.

Question 4

What are the threats of KeyLoggers?

Answer 4

Key logger: Surveillance technology that can be installed via USB and then used to record keystrokes on a device.

Question 5

What are the threats of USB drop?

Answer 5

USB drop: Type of attack where unsanitary devices are “dropped” somewhere and a victim picks them up and uses them.