About USB

Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a serial bus standard to interface devices. USB was designed to allow peripherals to be connected using a single standardized interface socket and to improve plug-and-play capabilities by allowing devices to be connected and disconnected without rebooting the computer (hot swapping). Other convenient features include providing power to low-consumption devices without the need for an external power supply and allowing many devices to be used without requiring manufacturer specific, individual device drivers to be installed.

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USB is intended to help retire all legacy varieties of serial and parallel ports. USB can connect computer peripherals such as mouse devices, keyboards, PDAs, gamepads and joysticks, scanners, digital cameras, printers, personal media players, and flash drives. For many of those devices USB has become the standard connection method. USB is also used extensively to connect non-networked printers; USB simplifies connecting several printers to one computer. USB lock software can lock out memory devices and still allow other USB peripherals to function. The USB was originally designed for personal computers, but it has become commonplace on other devices such as PDAs and video game consoles. In 2004, there were about 1 billion USB devices in the world.

The design of USB is standardized by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), an industry standards body incorporating leading companies from the computer and electronics industries. Notable members have included Agere, Apple Inc., Hewlett-Packard, Intel, NEC, and Microsoft.


Quotes about USB

  1. Well, oh, maybe we should use a smart card instead, or a USB token instead?
    In Analyst: "Are These Banks Asleep at the Wheel?"
  2. This is a lot of information, personal information, my insurance information, my medical records, my husband's social security is at risk because of the medical coverage.
    In Hospital: Stolen laptop contains info for 21K patients
  1. Mentioned In 24 Articles

  2. Apple Releases iTunes 10

    Explore Article us-cert.gov (5 hours ago)

    ... By convincing a user to open a file from a location that is under an attacker's control, such as a USB drive or network share, a remote attacker may be able to exploit this vulnerability. Exploitation o... (Read Full Article)

    Comment on Article Mentions:   Mac   Internal Revenue Service   Adobe

  3. Google Releases Chrome 6.0.472.53

    Explore Article us-cert.gov (5 hours, 5 min ago)

    ... By convincing a user to open a file from a location that is under an attacker's control, such as a USB drive or network share, a remote attacker may be able to exploit this vulnerability. Exploitation o... (Read Full Article)

    Comment on Article Mentions:   Mac   Internal Revenue Service   Adobe

  4. Infected USB drive blamed for '08 military cyber breach; Malware was uploaded to network run by the U.S. Central Command

    Explore Article Computerworld (Aug 26 2010)

    A USB drive loaded with malware was used to compromise sensitive military networks in 2008, according to ... (Read Full Article)

    Comment on Article Mentions:   Jaikumar Vijayan   Computerworld   USB

  5. Adobe Releases Security Bulletin for Shockwave Player

    Explore Article us-cert.gov (Aug 25 2010)

    ... By convincing a user to open a file from a location that is under an attacker's control, such as a USB drive or network share, a remote attacker may be able exploit this vulnerability. Exploitation of t... (Read Full Article)

    Comment on Article Mentions:   Adobe   USB   Adobe Security Bulletin

  6. Apple Releases Security Update 2010-005

    Explore Article us-cert.gov (Aug 25 2010)

    ... By convincing a user to open a file from a location that is under an attacker's control, such as a USB drive or network share, a remote attacker may be able exploit this vulnerability. Exploitation of t... (Read Full Article)

    Comment on Article Mentions:   Adobe   USB   Adobe Security Bulletin

  7. Data Breaches Continue to Plague Health Care Orgs

    Explore Article esecurityplanet.com (Aug 4 2010)

    ...stolen from an employee's car. Security experts said breaches of this type -- be it stolen laptops, USB drives or desktops -- are particularly common in hospitals and physicians' offices because these fa... (Read Full Article)

    Comment on Article Mentions:   HHS   Internet.com   Jay Foley

  8. AMR Breach Puts 79,000 Employees at Risk

    Explore Article esecurityplanet.com (Jul 13 2010)

    ...sulting firm Ponemon Institute estimated that more than 800,000 portable storage devices (including USB drives, hard drives, and laptops) were stolen or misplaced last year, a fact that's led state and f... (Read Full Article)

    Comment on Article Mentions:   Larry Barrett   Fort Worth   Associated Press

  9. States' Rights Come to Security Forefront

    Explore Article InformationWeek (Apr 17 2010)

    States' Rights Come to Security Forefront ...on of data in motion and at rest, including on laptops and other portable devices like smartphones, USB drives, and MP3 players. That's going to be a sticking point for many shops; our InformationWeek An... (Read Full Article)

    Comment on Article Mentions:   InformationWeek   PCI   Massachusetts

  10. Customers sue Countywide over insider data theft

    Explore Article The Tech Herald (Apr 13 2010)

    Customers sue Countywide over insider data theft ...led to detect the download of more than 2 million records. The preventative measure was to seal the USB ports on systems used by employees, opting for a physical barrier, instead of policy lockdowns and ... (Read Full Article)

    Comment on Article Mentions:   Pasadena   USB   California

  11. Vodafone HTC Smartphone Ships With Malware

    Explore Article esecurityplanet.com (Mar 12 2010)

    .... When the phone, which runs on the Android operating system, was plugged into a Windows PC via the USB port, the Panda Cloud Antivirus software "went off," detecting both an autorun.inf and autorun.exe ... (Read Full Article)

    Comment on Article Mentions:   Larry Barrett   USB   Internet.com

  12. The evolution of online identity and trust

    Explore Article scmagazineus.com (Mar 2 2010)

    The evolution of online identity and trust ...ital version of the document. These digital versions could take many formats, such as a smart card, USB dongle, or credential on a smart phone. With these tools in place, people can assert identity or, e... (Read Full Article)

    Comment on Article Mentions:   RSA   Microsoft Corp.   USB

  13. Mass. law requires strict IT security

    Explore Article Fosters.com (Mar 1 2010)

    ...ewall security, and anti-virus and anti-spyware software. — Encrypt e-mails and e-mail attachments, USB flash drives, and PDAs containing personal information. — Manage record destruction properly (in-of... (Read Full Article)

    Comment on Article Mentions:   USB   Massachusetts   New Hampshire

  14. Data security breaches often triggered by carelessness

    Explore Article American Medical Association (Feb 22 2010)

    Data security breaches often triggered by carelessness ...mpany in 2009 found that in a six-month period, 12,500 mobile devices were left in taxis, and 4,500 USB memory sticks were left in pockets of pants sent to dry cleaners. Most people -- including those in... (Read Full Article)

    Comment on Article Mentions:   USB

  15. Analyst: "Are These Banks Asleep at the Wheel?"

    Explore Article bankinfosecurity.com (Feb 12 2010)

    ..., and so some banks will react by saying, 'Well, oh, maybe we should use a smart card instead, or a USB token instead?' The bottom line is all these factors are going through the user's browser, and noth... (Read Full Article)

    Comment on Article Mentions:   Avivah Litan   Gartner Research   Information Security Media Group

  16. Full Text Of Cambridge Report On Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode

    Explore Article StorefrontBacktalk (Feb 6 2010)

    ... per customer to issue CAP calculators, banks should spend $20 to issue a similar device but with a USB interface and a trustworthy display. What must be done to make it happen? As this paper should brin... (Read Full Article)

    Comment on Article Mentions:   Steven J. Murdoch   USB   EMV

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