USB dead drop
A USB dead drop is a USB device installed in a public space. For example, a USB flash drive might be mounted in an outdoor brick wall and fixed in place with fast concrete.[1] The name comes from the dead drop method of espionage communication. The devices can be regarded as an anonymous, offline, peer-to-peer file sharing network.
An early USB dead drop network of five devices was started in October 2010 in Brooklyn, New York City, by Berlin-based artist Aram Bartholl,[2][3] a member of New York's Fat lab art and technology collective. A similar "deadSwap" system has been run in Germany since 2009.[4]
Members of the public are invited to drop or find files on a dead drop by directly plugging their laptop into the USB stick in the wall to share files and data. It is possible to use smartphones and tablet computers by using a USB on the go adaptor.
Each dead drop is installed empty except two files:[5] deaddrops-manifesto.txt,[6] and a readme.txt file explaining the project.[7]
Contents
Benefits and drawbacks[edit]
Benefits[edit]
- Opportunity to practice Datalove (word invented by Telecomix)
- Sharing files with another person secretly.
- P2P file sharing without any wireless connection.
- Connects to an offline network without any connection to internet or an IP address.
- Promotes off the grid messaging and transferring files
Drawbacks[edit]
Publicly and privately available points give anyone the ability to save and transfer data anonymously and free of charge. Such offline networks are vulnerable to the following examples of threats:
- A fake dead drop might be rigged up to electrically damage any equipment connected to it, and/or constitute a health and safety hazard for potential users. This risk can be amended by using a USB galvanic isolation adapter, which allows data exchange while physically decoupling the two circuits.
- Software destruction: anyone can erase all of the data by file deletion or disk formatting, or by encrypting the data or the whole drive and hiding the key (ransomware).
- Malware: anyone can intentionally or unintentionally store malware on it that can infect an attached computer with malware such as a trojan horse, keylogger or proprietary firmware.
- Vandalism of the dead drop by physical destruction: anyone can destroy the dead drop by using for instance pliers or a hammer, by high voltage from a static field, with high temperature from a blowtorch, or other methods of physical force. It is possible to make the USB key more difficult to vandalize or to extract, by sealing it in a hole deeper than the length of the USB key (at least 2 cm more), this requiring to connect only a USB extender cable of type female-male (standard type A). Sometimes the dead-drop itself can be vandalism of the building.
- Disclosure: anyone can disclose the location of a private dead drop by shadowing people and publishing coordinates in a public place.
- Demolition: certain dead drop locations are limited to the lifespan of public structures in local areas.
Dead drops in nature[edit]
In 2013, the web site instructables published text and video about how to make a USB dead drop in natural resources such as trees and rocks.[8]
Wireless dead drop[edit]
Wireless dead drops are also being created.[9][10][11] The PirateBox, designed in 2011, is the best known.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "How to make your own". Deaddrops.com. 2013-06-10. Retrieved 2013-06-25.
- ^ Hern, Alex (8 March 2015). "Dead Drops: what to do if you see a USB stick sticking out of a wall". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
- ^ "Dead Drops: Bizarre new artwork embeds USB sticks in buildings". Mail Online. 3 November 2010.
- ^ http://deadswap.net/files/deadswap.pdf
- ^ http://www.instructables.com/id/Create-a-USB-Dead-Drop-in-Nature/?ALLSTEPS
- ^ http://deaddrops.com/download/deaddrops-manifesto.txt
- ^ http://deaddrops.com/download/readme.txt
- ^ http://www.instructables.com/id/Create-a-USB-Dead-Drop-in-Nature/?ALLSTEPS
- ^ "PirateBox".
- ^ "WIDROP".
- ^ "Wireless drop".
External links[edit]
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