How to Protect your USB Firmware from Viruses
The term "USB attack" refers to a type of attack that uses a USB-connected device, such as a thumb drive or hard drive, to infect a computer or another USB-connected device, such as a smartphone, with malicious software. Hard drives and thumb drives are additional instances of USB-connected gadgets. Another way that malicious USB devices can be used to harm or destroy a computer is by delivering an electrical charge.
This article will walk you through all the risks presented by an unprotected USB terminal and offer several techniques you can use to strengthen your defense against those risks.
What steps can you take to protect the security of your USBs?
The simplest course of action is to protect your USB flash drives since they are the origin of the virus that is circulating. On the other hand, this type of risk can appear anywhere within your network and is not only related to USB flash drives. For instance, one of your computers might unintentionally catch a virus that spreads to your USB flash drives.
This means that in order to handle the situation safely, you must do so from both an internal and external perspective. Your company's USB flash drives need to be protected from the outside, and any internal devices that could connect to them need to be secured.
How does malicious software get onto USB storage devices?
It is possible to come across both accidental and intentional disease transmission. The latter scenario is illustrated by the Stuxnet worm; in this case, malicious code is installed on the drive to filter the code into the targeted network.
If someone uses an unsecured USB drive to access a system with insufficient security in a public space with insufficient endpoint protection, such as an internet café, airport, or any other location, an unintentional infection may occur (which is about 70 percent of places). There is no way to know for sure how much damage has already been done; the infection may become apparent at some point after you have connected the device to your computer.
How to Protect Your USB Firmware from Viruses: A Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1: Avoid using unknown USB devices.
This technique involved intentionally disseminating infected USB flash drives. The network would become infected with the malicious content that was loaded on the firmware as a result of people with a sense of adventure picking up these flash drives, bringing them to their place of employment or school, and plugging them in.
The prevalence of this issue has significantly decreased over the past few years as more people are aware of the dangers of connecting unauthorized USB devices. Even so, it is still worth considering, especially in light of the recent surge in USB-centric devices that have taken over the market.
Although this idea is most frequently applied to USB flash drives, it can technically be used with any device that connects to a computer via a USB port. As a result, be cautious when using any peripheral that you are unfamiliar with, and if you are the network administrator, make it a point to inform and caution your users about the dangers of plugging unauthorized devices into their USB ports.
Step 2: Disable auto-play.
Windows Auto-play, which launches programs when a program is opened, is one of the biggest flaws that could compromise a network's physical security. But most of the time, all it accomplishes is saving the user the five seconds needed to manually turn on a connected device.
Malicious USB firmware can use the Windows Auto-play feature to launch programs that can completely disable your network. Since the majority of USB firmware-based malware uses this Windows feature as a catch-all, it is preferable to disable it across your network. It is still preferable to do this even though more sophisticated malware can usually find a way to get around it in some way.
Step 3: Avoid connecting to any unknown drives.
Social engineering, which refers to the use of psychological trickery and manipulation to persuade users to connect to a malicious device, is the cause of a sizeable portion of the risks posed by USB devices. This trick shouldn't be used against you because it appears in almost all online attacks.
You should never ever connect a USB drive that you are unfamiliar with that you find dropped somewhere, like a parking lot. Negative actors rely on people's natural curiosity to infect your device and steal your information. They'll abandon it in a public area, like a hospital, and wait for someone to plug it in there. A drop attack is this kind of assault.
Another common tactic is to send USB drives to people through the mail while making them seem like promotional offers from large-format technology retailers like Best Buy. In summary, regardless of whether they originate from a business you are familiar with or not, you should be wary of any free USB sticks that you discover or unintentionally receive.
Step 4: Go virtual
If you have a higher level of technical proficiency, you can download free virtualization software from Oracle called VirtualBox (Opens in a new window). You can create a virtual environment on your computer that will enable you to run a simulated version of your computer inside of your computer. Your network and files won't be impacted in any way if you plug in the drive and then open it in the virtual environment. Windows Sandbox is an additional built-in option available to users of the operating system.
Step 5: Don't disregard updates
Maintaining an updated operating system is important, especially if you use Windows. Cybercriminals frequently take advantage of users' failure to update their systems, despite the fact that updates frequently fix serious security flaws.
6. Use secure USB flash drives.
You can pick from a few different models of safe USB flash drives that are available on the market. On the other hand, if you discover that you frequently use a single personal flash drive, perhaps because it contains portable software for network administration, you might want to update.
Using an encrypted flash drive, like those produced by Ironkey, is one such strategy. Encrypting access to the flash device prevents both human and automated infection of the USB's firmware. Furthermore, you can be sure that such a drive's core firmware was created with security in mind, making it more resistant to the harmful changes that viruses can bring about. This adds another level of security to you.
Flash memory devices with a keypad, like the Kingston Datatraveler 2000, use a different type of hardware-based USB protection. This method completely eliminates the possibility of software infection because it calls for manual password entry. An attacker would need to know your passcode in addition to having physical access to your USB flash drive for an infection to take place. The majority of keypad flash drives also have encryption software built in, allowing you to strengthen the security of your data.
A write protection feature is available on some USB flash drives; it is typically implemented as a small latch on the side of the flash drive. The write protection switch is turned on to prevent the USB drive from sending or receiving data to or from a connected device. After that, you can examine the drive's contents without being concerned that an infection will spread to your computer. Furthermore, because the write protection latches are physical, they can stop all software-based infections, which is very similar to how a keypad solution does it.
Step 7: Turn off autorun.
As a result of features on your devices, when you plug in a drive, it will assist in preventing harmful code from automatically running on your device. On your Windows computer, open the Control Panel and look for the AutoPlay setting there. Uncheck Use the AutoPlay feature on all of your media and devices to prevent unidentified devices from starting up without your knowledge or permission.
Step 8: Device-controlling software
One of the best solutions you can use throughout your network is without a doubt device control software. Any data exchanged between the gadgets on your network and any kind of portable storage, like USB flash drives, is monitored and managed by this software. The collaboration between device control software and data loss prevention (DLP) software shouldn't come as a surprise. Comprehensive DLP software packages typically include a number of device management solutions.
By offering a single point of control for all connections from external devices, device control software enables you to physically prevent any unauthorized USB devices from joining your network. By doing this, you can prevent any unauthorized USB devices from joining your network. As an alternative, if you still permit connections from flash drives, you can keep track of the files being sent and flag any that might be malicious.
There is a huge variety of software for managing devices on the market right now. You can read our analysis of various solutions to this issue below.
Tools like Drivelock are available to help you protect your USB firmware.
1. Drivelock
2. CoSoSys' Endpoint Protector
3. PhrozenSoft Secure USB
Conclusion
In this article, we've covered a few different methods you can use to safeguard your network and USB flash drives. At the very least, you should inform your users of the risks associated with connecting unknown USB devices, and you should think about disabling Autoplay through group policy.
Other options, like improved USB flash drive hardware security, are available if you want to up your security even further. Consider one of the many readily available options for device control software, such as Device Control Plus or Endpoint Protector by CoSoSys. These two programs are both wise choices.
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