G1N1 virus

[gerne]

hi everyone

Was pelasently shocked today to find an email from the most wonderfull Sandra Klass in my inbox after unsuccessfully trying to submit a virus that a colleague is thought to have attracted in China. It was cought loading an infected Autorun.inf on the USB stick recognised as Mal_otorun2. I figured out that the infection is a pig by hiding all directories on the stick and generating folder.exe files with the same name that - when you open a folder - infect the computer as they are folder.exe files, as you can see when showing the detail view with extensions. I initially thought they were just compressed files and this is why the scanners ignore them as they look like empty self-extrextable files to the system. I actually thought microsoft had added a feature for compressing the data - how nice.

Anyhow, has anyone an idea how I can lock my USB stick easily with a password so noone can dump shit upon it without my approval?

:thanks:
:)

[Tom.K]

I don't know any USB password locking software. However, you can try Thumbscrew (http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=security/thumbscrew-software-usb-write-blocker). It allows you to define to allow writing or deny writing to USB.

[gerne]

thanks for the suggestion but as this one is a registry key it has to be set at the computer, not at the USB drive. Great so to stop people taking data of the computer.

found an encryption software that might do the trick
http://www.truecrypt.org/

:spider:

[bitman]

TrueCrypt works great to encrypt and protect the entire operating system, I'm using it to protect my Vista laptop.

Though I've never used it in the 'Portable' or 'Traveler Disk' modes, it appears to be one of the most memory and disk efficient applications for doing this, especially since it's also free and well maintained.

Beyond allowing you to simply use a password it's really truly protecting your data from theft, since without your password no one will ever be able to access it, even you. :p:

Bitman

< EDIT > I should mention that I also use it for some USB hard drives that contain critical data. However, the entire volume is encrypted, since the only systems where these are used already contain a TrueCrypt installation. You will require at least Portable mode to use it on other systems and probably the Traveler Disk Setup, since you'll want the quickest operation without the need to get the software itself from somewhere else. Note, however, that you must be an Administrator to operate in these modes, so it may not be useful on systems in a school or where others don't wish to allow you this access.