A USB cable may look harmless enough, but some are hiding a dangerous secret. O.MG cables are USB cables that allow hackers to steal your information. Luckily, there are ways you can protect your devices from O.MG cables.
Not All USB Cables Are Innocent
USB cables are some of the most essential items that everyone uses on a daily basis. We use them to charge, transfer data, and connect peripherals. USB cables have become so common that most people won’t think twice about borrowing one if the need ever arises. This, however, can be a dangerous thing to do.
Why? Because fake USB cables like the O.MG cable have been in circulation for a few years now. With these cables, hackers can easily hack into your devices without you even suspecting it. So, how exactly is it possible? And how can you protect your devices?
What Is a Fake USB O.MG Cable?
An O.MG cable is a hacking tool that looks and acts like a standard USB cable. The only difference is that an O.MG cable houses a special implant that allows a hacker to steal your data, inject mouse inputs, log in your keystrokes, and deploy dangerous payloads. The O.MG cable can be configured to have a combination of USB-A, USB-C, USB Micro, and Lightning interface, which can be used for Android and iOS.
The O.MG cable is a tool sold by Hak5 (a company that sells cybersecurity devices) to aid security professionals in strengthening cybersecurity by emulating how a skilled hacker might exploit an organization’s systems by baiting employees and management into using their fake USB cables.
Even though it was designed as a tool for good, an O.MG cable can potentially be misused by people with malicious intent to cause harm to their unsuspecting victims. Since the O.MG cable is readily available online starting at $119.99, the O.MG cable may be affordable enough for a person with bad intent to purchase one online.
What Makes USB O.MG Cables Dangerous?
An O.MG cable is dangerous because most people have no problem using a USB cable from whoever lent it to them. The device is so inconspicuous that you’ll find no physical difference between the O.MG cable and a regular third-party USB cable. Moreover, the O.MG cable was designed with several stealth functionalities that hide some behaviors that might hint at the victim of any malicious activities.
Another factor that makes an O.MG cable dangerous is that it requires little tech knowledge to use. The O.MG cable was specifically designed for convenient use. With little instructions, a person could easily install one of the many publicly available DuckyScript payloads into their O.MG cable and cause harm to anyone who uses the cable.
Just by being a script kiddie, a person could potentially pull out some pretty impressive pranks like causing the victim’s profile to follow someone on Instagram and changing your wallpaper to outright felonious acts like stealing passwords,Wi-Fi eavesdropping, and exfiltrating personal data.
The O.MG cable also makes it easier for hackers to continue controlling the device even when far away from the cable. By using air gap communications to control the cable remotely, hackers could potentially access your device whenever you plug it into the cable for charging or data transfer. The attacker could also use a Wi-Fi repeater to extend the range within which they have to hack your device.
What’s scary about this is that the continual use of the O.MG cable may give a knowledgeable hacker enough opportunities to install a working and persistent backdoor, enabling the hacker to control your device even without the O.MG cable.
What makes the O.MG cable dangerous is that it provides an inexperienced hacker with a tool that is easy to use, versatile, and very inconspicuous, requiring little to nosocial engineeringon the part of the attacker.
How an O.MG Cable Operates
Understanding how the O.MG operates can give us valuable insights into how we can better protect our devices from any possible O.MG cable attacks. In general, an O.MG cable operates in three modes. These are the programming, deployed, and triggered modes.
As you can see, the O.MG cable’s operational stealth is well-thought-out. But it doesn’t end there; the O.MG cable is also capable of other stealth features that make the cable very hard to detect. For instance, the geofencing capability of the O.MG cable may be used to switch between deployed and triggered modes when the victim enters or exits a specified location. The O.MG cable’s self-destruct feature may also be used with geofencing to convince the victim to throw the faulty cable into the trash, which gives the hacker a chance to reclaim the cable.
How to Protect Your Device From an O.MG Cable
There are numerous ways to protect your device from an O.MG cable. One is to use a cable that you’ve bought, but that’s already stating the obvious. Here are a few things you can do to ensure your devices are protected from an O.MG cable attack:
O.MG Cables Can Easily Be Thwarted
It’s crucial to be aware of the risks associated with fake USB cables like the O.MG cable. These cables can be used by hackers to compromise your devices and steal sensitive information. Many of the dangers imposed by such a hacking device can easily be mitigated by simply updating your software whenever possible, using a screen lock, carrying your own cables, and having good cyber hygiene—or you can always just carry a USB condom.
