USB devices, best known for spreading infections among disconnected computers, have been leveraged by cyber attackers as an effective and persistent distribution vehicle for cryptographic mining malware.
Although the range and number of attacks are relatively low, the number of victims increases year by year, according to a Kaspersky Lab on USB media threats and removable on 2018.
The list of the main 10 threats targeting the removable devices, as detected by the Kaspersky Security Network (KSN), is headed from at least 2015, by the Windows LNK malware. Data from Kaspersky Lab show that some of the infections detected in 2018 date back to previous years, indicating a prolonged infection that probably had a significant negative impact on the processing power of the victim's device.
Emerging markets, where USB devices are most widely used for commercial purposes, are the most vulnerable to the spread of malicious infections by removable devices - with Africa, Asia and South America among the most affected. But isolated successes have also been detected in countries in Europe and North America.
According to Denis Parinov, Kaspersky Lab's antimalware researcher, “USB devices may be less effective at spreading infections than in the past, due to growing awareness of their weakness in security and the decline in use as a business tool, but our research shows that they remain a significant risk that users should not underestimate ”.
Kaspersky Lab recommends the following steps to protect the use of USB devices:
- Be careful with the devices you connect to your computer;
- Invest in encrypted USB devices from trusted brands. That way, you'll know your data is safe even if you lose the device; make sure that all data stored on USB is also encrypted;
- Have a security solution that scans all removable devices for malware before they are connected to the network because even trusted brands can be compromised through their supply chain.
- Manage USB device usage: Define which USB devices can be used, by whom and why;
- Instruct employees about safe USB practices, especially if they are moving the device between a home computer and a working device
- Do not leave scattered or running USBs.
