Tiny USB Firewall for low-level Hacking protection

[Parsh]

Even if you didn’t find that USB drive at some random place, can you trust it completely?

To use the said USG device (firewall for USB ports), you need to put its one end to your PC and the suspected USB device into the other. It automatically scans the USB device for BadUSB attacks, which can harm you via USB driver exploits and hidden/visible evil functionality.

The USG uses two STM32F4 microprocessors communicating over a high-speed serial link which allows only a restricted set of commands to pass. So, a malicious host is barred from corrupting the USB drive’s firmware.

Spoiler: Internals and interfacing

The USG supports mass storage devices, flash drives, keyboard, and mice. In future updates, you can expect to see some extra devices. Talking about the speed, USG Version 1 uses 12Mbps hardware, so the storage transfer should run around 1MBytes per second.

You should note that the USG protects you from low-level USB attacks, but it can’t save you from viruses stored in the drive’s file system. Also, it wasn’t designed to resist physical voltage overload attacks. So, it doesn’t claim to protect you fully from the USB Killer.

Can this be a worthy tool for the privacy-oriented people who are habitual of adding extra layers of security?

 

[Arequire]

Interesting little gadget but I'm confused about who this is marketed towards.
Is it aimed at people who find random flash drives lying around and decide it's a fantastic idea to plug them into their PC? I don't see those kinds of people even being aware of this kind of device, and even if they are I can't see them wanting to spend money on it.

Or is it aimed at people who are concerned about the threat of someone physically plugging in an infected flash drive into their laptop or desktop? If so, there's usually more than one usb port and the attacker could just remove the USG, infect the system and then re-plug the USG back in.

 

[Parsh]

Interesting little gadget but I'm confused about who this is marketed towards.
Is it aimed at people who find random flash drives lying around and decide it's a fantastic idea to plug them into their PC? I don't see those kinds of people even being aware of this kind of device, and even if they are I can't see them wanting to spend money on it.

This appears to be one of those l'il inventions people work on to make technology look always evolving and protecting.
That line "find a USB at random place..." is no different than those used to make such articles look cheesy.

It can be for those techy guys who often love to experiment with boards like Arduino or Raspberry Pie, create and modify stuffs and fortify their system. Not many will choose to protect their devices (from BadUSB etc if you know) using such additions but it can be subjectively useful to a small class of people wanting to add to their security or just play with such tools (maybe for once).
Note that the USG is available on Github and it can be burnt onto a similar HW setup one may create. Purchase option is an extra provision, just like the EEK USB (actual device) Emsisoft offers, so that you don't have to make it

 

[HarborFront]

To protect against BadUSB

1) Use HMPA
2) Use the free G Data USB Keyboard Guard

 

[Parsh]

To protect against BadUSB

1) Use HMPA
2) Use the free G Data USB Keyboard Guard

Nice! Didn't hear about G Data USB keyboard Guard earlier. That's cool.
BTW, the USG differs in the sense that it uses its two processors to create a bi-directional firewall and it says that only a restricted set of commands are allowed to pass through. So a malicious host cannot alter your USB device's firmware.
Also, it should protect from something more than the BadUSB vector due to the restrictions. I'm not sure how will it differ in logical implementation from that of the G Data keyboard guard.
People can use their own logic to build a better version of the firmware to be written to the USG for customized protection.
Well, for people like us, that G Data thing should be more than enough

 

[ant_gamal]

What is the difference between it and keylogger extension or USB

I think keylogger for keylogger only