What are USB condoms and how do they work?

Little by little, users are assuming the advantages of carrying all your personal, banking and work information in a device that fits in your pocket, but that also brings many risks associated with it and there will be no shortage of foreign friends who try by all means Get hold of that valuable information.

Mobile phone and laptop manufacturers have gotten down to work to protect access to devices by implementing fingerprint readers, biometric and facial recognition systems, but there is an attack vector that is still vulnerable: the usb connector.

This connector It is not only used to charge the mobile when the battery dies, it’s also a data transfer port, making it susceptible to attack. This is where the usb condom takes center stage.

Actually, this device is nothing more than a dongle or a modified cable that acts as an intermediary between an external USB socket and the device’s USB porteliminating any data transmission and maintaining solely and exclusively the charging functions of this port.

What is a USB condom?

In appearance, a USB condom is no different than a USB cable or to a conventional adapter, but inside the connections have been modified to limit the capabilities of a connector that, as we have already told you on occasion, is much more than a simple charging connection, limiting the functions of data transmission, audio or image to maintain only the connection that allows the device to be charged.

In reality, if you have a minimal knowledge of precision soldering and electronics, it is relatively easy. make one of these USB condoms. It basically consists of not connecting those cables involved in data transmission, enabling only the voltage and charge control sockets.

On the other hand, for the majority of mortals who do not want to burn their fingers with the soldering iron, the most comfortable and cheapest option is buy a usb condom already operating on Amazon or an online store.

They can be found by less than 10 euro and may look like a USB adapter or a conventional wire with a male socket and the other female. Additionally, they can have USB-A to USB-A, USB-A to USB-C, or USB-C to USB-C connectors.

What is a USB condom for?

In the same way that from Computerhoy.com we have recommended you on numerous occasions not to connect to public WiFi networks to avoid attacks and interception of your data, or at least use a VPN to protect yourself if you do, now the recommendation is also extensible to public charging points offered at airports, stations, shopping centers and public buildings.

A significant increase in the number of attacks on mobile devices has been detected from public USB chargers modified to inject malware to the devices that connect and access their data.

To the use a usb condom In this type of chargers, the threat is neutralized since the data connection of the port has been disabled, so any attempt to transmit malicious software or any other type of access attempt will be neutralized, but without limiting the charging capacity of the devices.

An effective solution is to always carry your own power adapter with its corresponding cable or, failing that, a portable external battery to charge your device outside the home, but that is not always possible, so the risk of attack persists. Especially on devices you use for your work.