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Unleashing the Power of USB Keystroke Injection: A Study on Cybersecurity Implications

Year: 2023


Presenter Name: Christopher Wilkinson

Description
One of the most important elements a technology user in this day and age is to know of the cybersecurity threats your particular system faces which is especially relevant to both those who program devices, as well as those physically designing them. Technology users should educate themselves on potential threats and vulnerabilities that exist in their code or products, how to defend and protect themselves, and how to respond after an event has occurred. After working with the Utah Valley University Cybersecurity Club I have come to realize how important it is to protect and defend the physical hardware infrastructure. This research paper holistically examines USB-based Keypress Injection Attacks in the following three parts: One, the increasing availability, accessibility, and use of USB-based Keypress Injection Attacks, two, what can be done to prevent a USB-based Keypress Injection Attacks on personal devices, and lastly, the increasing availability of the hardware and tools necessary to the general public to perform these attacks. The USB-based Keypress Injection Attacks will be broken into two categories. The first are scripts that only run when the hardware is attached. The second category will focus on persistent attacks that stay on the victims device. My primary goal of this paper is to examine and discuss the results from writing and running ten unique scripts from my very own Hak5 USB Rubber Ducky and related USB-based Keypress Injection Attack hardware. Having educated myself on the ever increasing reality of USB-based Keypress Injection Attacks I will be able to better protect myself and educate others on preventative measures, what signs of a potential threat could look like, and how to get started yourself.
University / Institution: Utah Valley University
Type: Poster
Format: In Person
Presentation #A40
SESSION A (9:00-10:30AM)
Area of Research: Education
Faculty Mentor: Sayeed Sajal