Inspired by a photo of someone cramming a firecracker inside a USB flash drive, a hacker who goes by “MG” on Medium has detailed a recent project where he engineered a Mission Impossible-style flash drive that ignites and explodes after delivering a nefarious software payload onto an unsuspecting computer.


Or at least they detailed most of the build, which involves cramming an Arduino-compatible ATtiny85 chip (and other electronics) into the gutted housing of a USB flash drive. That turns it into what’s known as a USB Rubber Ducky that can deliver keystroke commands and malicious code because a computer thinks it’s a normal keyboard when plugged in.


What MG doesn’t detail in their Medium post is how the flash drive goes from emulating a keyboard to triggering a small explosive device inside to effectively destroy itself, and any incriminating evidence, when its software-delivery job is complete. Teaching the internet how to build such a device would almost certainly lead to a run-in with the law some day. So instead, let the moral of this hack be to just stop using mysterious flash drives which may or may not be hiding a tiny bomb.

[Vimeo via Medium via Hackaday]