One of the biggest problems associated with USBs in general simply comes with their territory. They are meant to be universally accessible, able to transfer data from any device to any other device. The major problem with this is the fact that this could lead to the spread of malware, Trojans and other kinds of malicious software that could potentially end up causing an enormous amount of damage to people simply because they ended up using a particular kind of USB that they did not previously know was infected.
Lucky for us, there is a central authority responsible for the advancement of USB technology, namely USB-IF or the USB Implementers Forum, and this central authority has decided to take steps to prevent this issue from occurring with such frequency. They have now launched the USB Type-C Authentication Program. This program is basically going to standardize the cryptographic authentication that USBs use, specifically USB-C devices. Whenever you connect your USB to a system, the system will be able to recognize whether the device in question is authentic or not.
This can prevent a lot of problems for occurring. Essentially, it arms users with the ability to protect themselves. They would be able to toggle a setting on their phones or computers that make it so that the system would only accept a USB that it can verify. This will make public use chargers a lot safer as well, they have traditionally been considered risky because you could potentially end up not being able to prevent malware or other malicious software from entering your system. While the program is currently only optional, it may very well become mandatory as USB becomes even more widespread than it currently is thus making security even more important.
Photo: Niphon / Getty Images
Lucky for us, there is a central authority responsible for the advancement of USB technology, namely USB-IF or the USB Implementers Forum, and this central authority has decided to take steps to prevent this issue from occurring with such frequency. They have now launched the USB Type-C Authentication Program. This program is basically going to standardize the cryptographic authentication that USBs use, specifically USB-C devices. Whenever you connect your USB to a system, the system will be able to recognize whether the device in question is authentic or not.
This can prevent a lot of problems for occurring. Essentially, it arms users with the ability to protect themselves. They would be able to toggle a setting on their phones or computers that make it so that the system would only accept a USB that it can verify. This will make public use chargers a lot safer as well, they have traditionally been considered risky because you could potentially end up not being able to prevent malware or other malicious software from entering your system. While the program is currently only optional, it may very well become mandatory as USB becomes even more widespread than it currently is thus making security even more important.
Further Reading: 21 Mind Blowing Data Breaches of This Century (infographic)
Photo: Niphon / Getty Images
