Maleware loaded into computer through usb charging
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K, a co-worker just explained it to me, and while a lot of it went over my head, I did understand that USB chargers are pretty much only capable of carrying DC. Assuming they don't show up as a connected device in device manager or elsewhere, they don't actually have data pins (or aren't being used).
In the case of most Ego chargers, it's impossible to get a virus from trying to charge your Ego battery. At least that's what I understand.
In the case of most Ego chargers, it's impossible to get a virus from trying to charge your Ego battery. At least that's what I understand.
https ://www .yahoo .com/tech/e-cigarette-from-china-infected-mans-computer-with-103466334849.html
This is only one reason I want American made.
LOL.... you think that someone from America isn't capable of or wouldn't attempt the same thing?
i would make it so a usb charger would upload bacon to my computer.
but then i'm not vury realistic with my expectations.
Sounds like a Reddit troll to me fueling a starved Yahoo for something new to report. I can;t get to the link provided and haven't searched for it, but in theory, devices such as the Evic do load to the machine for management purposes. I'm not sure what device is reported as doing so. I have charged many eGo devices through my USB ports on my laptops and have never seen it connect to the machine. It always provdes DC only as you said. I think the whole thing is a bull.... grab for viewership or a payoff article. IMO anyway. This community has to rise above making a big deal over things we know are fabricated. This is just another one to add to the pile.
Too much time on your handsLOL
lol. You give me too much credit, my friend. There's no way I would do this myself. I stole it from the internet.
At the same time, I'm glad someone brings this to the attention of the e-cig community, as it gives us a chance to rationally figure out whether or not it's a falsified report. In this case, I'd say it very likely is.
You're right though, some devices, when connecting to charge through USB, do actually recognize as devices. Some have firmware and stuff that'll let you read statistics on your computer, and change preset settings (I forgot what device I'm talking about.. But I think everyone knows what I'm talking about). That's a totally different case, and surely, it's possible that anything could be loaded on it.
lol. You give me too much credit, my friend. There's no way I would do this myself. I stole it from the internet.
LOL.....
On topic...... I could totally see it as possible for malware or a virus being transmitted through USB charging. I don't use my puter to charge anything!
Ok, theoretically this is possible. Not with the standard ego/usb chargers, though. As has been pointed out, they only run DC. Someone would have to purposely add hardware to the charger that would store the malware and use a different type of usb cable that has data pins as well as DC. More likely than not your computer would recognize this as a "device" and would ask you what you would want to do with it, which would be the major red flag.
Moral of the story, don't use your computer to charge your ecig, which you shouldn't anyways since the power drain can also damage your computer.
ETA: until there is a confirmed case of this happening, with a source other than "A CEO" from "A Company" and posted to reddit, I'm going to chalk this up to internet conspiracy theory loosely based on possibility.
Moral of the story, don't use your computer to charge your ecig, which you shouldn't anyways since the power drain can also damage your computer.
ETA: until there is a confirmed case of this happening, with a source other than "A CEO" from "A Company" and posted to reddit, I'm going to chalk this up to internet conspiracy theory loosely based on possibility.
I sent a request to this guy on YouTube to teardown one or two Ego chargers (even offered to buy him a couple to mess with). Interested in seeing what's inside, or if this is even a possible thing to do.
The only device I have that is charged this way (with a standard eGo charger) is my ARO Winder and I really, SERIOUSLY doubt that Smoktech is doing anything like this -- they have much bigger fish to fry.
I do sometimes charge my vv3s at the computer, because why not? I have an available USB port on the front, and sometimes my USB adapter is occupied, charging another vv3.
Andria
I do sometimes charge my vv3s at the computer, because why not? I have an available USB port on the front, and sometimes my USB adapter is occupied, charging another vv3.
Andria
It really doesn't make sense to put malware on a tiny device that only a few million people are using. Most computers and peripherals are made in China, Taiwan etc. and are used by a hundreds of millions of people in the US alone. Flash drives would be the easiest (Stuxnet) but also the most obvious. Printers have direct communication with a PC and would be less obvious.
I have taken apart about half a dozen of different ego chargers, and have yet to find one that is actually using the data pins, not to talk about flash memory chipsets. They have the data pins hooked on the pcb, but they don't have any traces to follow on the PCB itself, so they are purely to strengthen the usb-connector, not to transfer data.
And as far as digital forensics goes, I highly doubt there is anything malware-related on a usb ecig charger, I hacmve gone through all the half a dozen I disassembled with digital forensics software and data recovery software to find absolutely nothing on them, they don't even mount on any OS so there is practically higher chance of getting hit by a lightning 3 times in a row than to get any type of malware off a usb ecig charger.
I might also be wrong, I take all kinds of true evidence and all my argumentatiln is based purely on tech knowledge, electronics knowledge and experimentation.
Actually that's not true entirely... ANY e-cig with a USB interface is NOT just wiring the power pins directly to the battery... That would charge at 5v and our batteries must be charged at 4.2V. That is why they have a "charger" interface. This can be as simple as a regulator to regulate the voltage down to 4.2V and a very few electronic components to stop charging once the batteries voltage reaches 4.2V as well... In other cases it can be a bit more complex and most commonly a small MCU is used to control everything. Now if the USB port ONLY provides power to the charging circuit, then it's true that there would be no way for there to be malicious code, however, if they DID connect the data pins of the USB to the MCU (almost ALL MCU's have SPI pins) it would be trivial to store malicious code that could be executed as part of the driver. A couple years back when digital picture frames got to be very popular the same thing happened. One of the companies in china making the interface chips for them embedded malicious code that would load when the driver loaded. So it's absolutely and totally possible....
Is it likely? Not that I could imagine. But remember, it's not about trying to "infect" a certain type of user or subset of users. If someone was to do this it would be to gain access to the machine to use in botnet attacks, distributed computing, etc... And let's face it... Someone is much more likely to pay attention to and catch something like this in a well branded cell phone or picture frame or whatever versus a little old USB charging dongle. So I wouldn't discredit it entirely.
Uh, most e-cigs now have computers and memory inside them. Any cig that uses a chip can have malware put on said chip.
Does it actually happen in practice? I don't know, but it's certainly possible. Indeed, I expect to see hackers at DEFCON and the like present proof-of-concept code in the future.
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