A computer virus that is, and you can.  Seems there is a reported case, on Reddit, of an e-cigarette delivering a payload of malware once plugged into the USB port.  A cheap device from China it seems. No shocker there.  So what should we learn from this especially given the post I did yesterday on lasp security and perhaps back doors left open on cheap Android tablets from China, that anything coming from a source you do not fully trust could have an number of security risks associated to them.  How about that wifi blue tooth app you bought?  Yup, it could have one too.

They way it works is pretty simple.  You plug the USB in, it pretends to be a keyboard, call a file on the device and execute.  Now a number of thing can go wrong with this process, but when you have thousands of these guys out there, a 1 in 100 rate would be pretty good.

Again, this is Reddit so take it for what its worth.  But if you are sufficiently paranoid now, there is hope.  You can get a USB Condom.  Yup, head over the kickstarter and get in on “SyncStop – Prevent data theft and malware on mobile devices”. Makes sense actually, you have no idea of a USB is just getting power short of talking it apart or shooting the middle connectors, but this is not fool proof.

Anyway, hope I made your life just that much richer by adding yes another e-boggie-man.  🙂