gHacks technology news » usb security http://www.ghacks.net A technology blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:29:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Increase USB Security With USB Cop http://www.ghacks.net/2009/02/16/increase-usb-security-with-usb-cop/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/02/16/increase-usb-security-with-usb-cop/#comments Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:45:42 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=10595 The Autorun feature is a big security risk on the Windows operating system. It is a risk even if you are the only person accessing the computer. Remember the Sony rootkit incident a while ago? Guess how Sony managed to install the rootkit on the computer system? Autorun can be disabled in Windows and this is probably the way to go for most users.

There is however another solution in the form of the USB security software USB Cop which has been uploaded to Sourceforge yesterday. USB Cop blocks all attempts to run an autorun.inf file on the computer system. It will instead display the contents of the file to the user giving a recommendation what the user should do with it.

Available options are to browse the contents of the disk or to close the dialog without performing an action. The interface itself will display all entries that are located in the autorun.inf file.

usb security

The option to execute the autorun.inf file normally is missing from the available options. What this application currently does is block all attempts of running an autorun.inf file on the computer system. The only difference between disabling that option in Windows and using the software is the ability to browse and see the contents of the autorun.inf file a bit faster and automatic with the software. In reality it would simply mean a few additional clicks for the same result without running a software in the background all the time.

The software itself uses about 4.5 Megabytes of computer memory while running.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/02/16/increase-usb-security-with-usb-cop/feed/ 8 Check which usb devices have been connected to your computer http://www.ghacks.net/2007/04/12/check-which-usb-devices-have-been-connected-to-your-computer/ http://www.ghacks.net/2007/04/12/check-which-usb-devices-have-been-connected-to-your-computer/#comments Thu, 12 Apr 2007 18:01:53 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2007/04/12/check-which-usb-devices-have-been-connected-to-your-computer/ I have been writing a article about three months ago which detailed how to edit the registry to display previously connected usb devices in the device manager. While this method is still working I found a free software that has exactly the same function. The software is called USB Deview and was developed by one of my favorite software programmers NirSoft. Before I start and describe the security software I would like to point out its use. I work for a company in the financing sector and they have such a strict security protocol that everything has to be routinely checked from time to time.

It is important to check if a unauthorized USB device has been connected to a computer. This could be a clear sign of a security breach, maybe data theft. One could argue that the damage has already been done but would you prefer to know of it at all or be totally unprepared for future events that result from this ? It is probably not that important for non business users but it could still be nice to know if someone else connected a device to your computer while you were away.

USB Deview lists the name of the device, a description and device type, a serial number and a created date. You do get a pretty good impression which kind of device has been connected. I checked my computer and was able to spot the Sony Ericsson W810 mobile phone from a friend that was once connected to my computer.

You can use USB Deview to uninstall previously connected USB devices or disconnect currently connected ones. Great little application, does not need to be installed at all and uses just 38K unpacked.

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