This USB cable can turn a normal Linux laptop into a 'brick'.

A software engineer living in the United States recently created a so-called "kill cable" USB, which acts as an intermediary tool that allows the complete collapse of a Linux laptop after it is disconnected. connected from the device.

More specifically, this strange cable is called BusKill, designed by Michael Altfield - a software engineer and sysadmin Linux from Orlando, Florida, USA. This is essentially a burglar device literally. This cable has 2 ends, one end is the USB interface as usual for you to plug into your laptop, the other end will be integrated with a key hook for you to hook into your desk, backpack or waistband, waistband . When someone snatches your laptop with strong and fast force, causing the USB connector to suddenly slip out of the laptop, the computer will automatically understand BusKill has been disconnected and automatically triggered a custom udev script, then actually Perform a series of preinstalled operations.

This could be something as simple as activating a screen saver or turning off the device (forcing the thief to bypass the system's identity verification mechanism before having access to any data). , or delete certain directories (to avoid fraudsters can steal sensitive data or access important areas of the system).

This special USB cable is designed to prevent intruders from having physical access to your device, and can protect all data stored inside. In the most extreme case, it can even completely disable the device, making the Linux laptop a "brick".

If you think the practicality of BusKill is not high? You are wrong. It is not uncommon to forget a laptop or be robbed or jerked in public. When a laptop falls into the wrong hands, it means that the data you store in there is a high risk of unauthorized access, sometimes this data is extremely valuable. BusKill was born to solve this problem.

People have been interested in developing online security systems for a long time, forgetting that it is equally important to keep data safe after the device is lost.

Author Michael Altfield has no intention of commercializing BusKill, and said that this USB cable possesses a fairly simple mechanism, anyone with a computer knowledge can make their own device. the same, similar.

Basic components include a USB flash drive (which can be empty, without any data storage), a carabiner lock to attach the BusKill cable to the belt, a backpack, a USB magnetic adapter and a USB cable. Altfield also lists two sample udev scripts. One is responsible for locking your device by activating a screen saver while the other command will shut down the system immediately.

Users will need to build their own scripts to delete data or delete sensitive folders, as they will depend on the location and type of data they want to delete.