Generating and storeing keys on usb pen

[Mark H. Wood]

On Wed, Apr 25, 2007 at 01:52:41PM -0500, Robert J. Hansen wrote:
> > USB is a peer to peer protocol; it requires substantial computing
> > power on both ends of the connection.  I'm just waiting for the first
> > virus which targets common USB drives; it would rip through colleges
> > and workplaces like wildfire.
> 
> And then, literally minutes later, this crosses my desk:
> 
> =====
> 
> "Hackers debut malware loaded USB ruse"

...

> ... Moral of the story: be very careful where you go plugging your  
> USB tokens into, recognize they are infection vectors and infection  
> targets, recognize they can be compromised, and act accordingly.

Yes, that's something important to remember about any removable
storage medium.  But the two situations are not equivalent.  Placing a
trojan on a storage volume for someone to choose to run is not at all
the same as breaking into the logic of a device controller to plant
autonomous malware.  What evidence do we have that USB controllers are
reprogrammable once they leave the factory?

-- 
Mark H. Wood, Lead System Programmer   mwood at IUPUI.Edu
Typically when a software vendor says that a product is "intuitive" he
means the exact opposite.

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