Good Reason Not To Use Wireless USB Dongles

[okfine]

Hardwired over wireless?
Yes.
Ever been infected with malware?
Yes. A devastating virus in the past and it wasn't from a wireless device. It was from a floppy. Way back in the day when Windows for Dummies was on the shelf.
IMO, a wireless USB dongle can't be trusted. I would never plug in an unknown or used dongle.
But what about a new one?
Maybe if it's Bluetooth I would consider it, but not one for a wireless keyboard or mouse. They use low level RF architecture and can easily be hacked. Especially in public. Recently a guy at work bought a "brand new never used" out of the box Logitech wireless keyboard/mouse combo for his personal use. He plugged in the dongle and surprise, Windows Defender instantly picked up a severe worm virus and quarantined it. Removed the dongle, ran a full virus scan and found no issues.
Our IT guy swears the USB device itself was infected and our equipment is out of any radio range. Who knows, but the device is gone.

 

[JackOfNoTrades]

Hardwired over wireless?
Yes.
Ever been infected with malware?
Yes. A devastating virus in the past and it wasn't from a wireless device. It was from a floppy. Way back in the day when Windows for Dummies was on the shelf.
IMO, a wireless USB dongle can't be trusted. I would never plug in an unknown or used dongle.
But what about a new one?
Maybe if it's Bluetooth I would consider it, but not one for a wireless keyboard or mouse. They use low level RF architecture and can easily be hacked. Especially in public. Recently a guy at work bought a "brand new never used" out of the box Logitech wireless keyboard/mouse combo for his personal use. He plugged in the dongle and surprise, Windows Defender instantly picked up a severe worm virus and quarantined it. Removed the dongle, ran a full virus scan and found no issues.
Our IT guy swears the USB device itself was infected and our equipment is out of any radio range. Who knows, but the device is gone.

Same goes for charging your cell phone at the airport.

FBI office warns against using public phone charging stations at airports or malls, citing malware risk

"Bad actors have figured out ways to use public USB ports to introduce malware and monitoring software onto devices," the FBI Denver office tweeted in a general alert.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[odanny]

Reason enough for me to be on an iPhone or Mac.

I did pick up my first virus on a Mac, kept getting a notification of a virus, and the notification was using an exact replica of my System Settings, I got it by clicking on a link I saw on Facebook.

So I opened my System Settings and Programs and found something in there (forget how it was titled) but it was titled in all caps, a dead giveaway. After I deleted it, I quit getting notifications of a virus.

Clicking on the notification I was sent somewhere to purchase some bullshit that would "remove all viruses from my Mac", lol.

 

[toobfreak]

Hardwired over wireless?

From an engineering POV, I've never been a computer IT guy but a buddy of mine was, and, two things:

1. The USB interface that has been thrust upon us is a highly fucked consumer format.
2. I for one avoid wireless anything like it is the plague. In all cases possible, I hard-wire everything. Even my ethernet connection between floors is hard-wired. I was recently looking for a new trackball mouse, which sits right next to the keyboard (the last place I need wireless as the keyboard has its own USM connections) only to find the industry is practically trying to FORCE me to buy a wireless trackball! Very few choices out there now for a wired one. So I dug out my old 25 year old Logitech TrackMan Marble+ (now highly sought after) and adapted it from PS2 to USB instead.

 

[okfine]

Reason enough for me to be on an iPhone or Mac.

I did pick up my first virus on a Mac, kept getting a notification of a virus, and the notification was using an exact replica of my System Settings, I got it by clicking on a link I saw on Facebook.

So I opened my System Settings and Programs and found something in there (forget how it was titled) but it was titled in all caps, a dead giveaway. After I deleted it, I quit getting notifications of a virus.

Clicking on the notification I was sent somewhere to purchase some bullshit that would "remove all viruses from my Mac", lol.

Do you use Bitdefender? I hear it's popular for Mac. We have one terminal that uses the WIN 10 version.

 

[odanny]

Do you use Bitdefender? I hear it's popular for Mac. We have one terminal that uses the WIN 10 version.

I don't use anything, usually don't have to with the Mac.

 

[okfine]

Hardwired over wireless?
Yes.
Ever been infected with malware?
Yes. A devastating virus in the past and it wasn't from a wireless device. It was from a floppy. Way back in the day when Windows for Dummies was on the shelf.
IMO, a wireless USB dongle can't be trusted. I would never plug in an unknown or used dongle.
But what about a new one?
Maybe if it's Bluetooth I would consider it, but not one for a wireless keyboard or mouse. They use low level RF architecture and can easily be hacked. Especially in public. Recently a guy at work bought a "brand new never used" out of the box Logitech wireless keyboard/mouse combo for his personal use. He plugged in the dongle and surprise, Windows Defender instantly picked up a severe worm virus and quarantined it. Removed the dongle, ran a full virus scan and found no issues.
Our IT guy swears the USB device itself was infected and our equipment is out of any radio range. Who knows, but the device is gone.

Virus detected: Worm:Win32/AutoRun!atmn
Status: Quarantined
Details: This program is dangerous and self-propagates over a network connection.

Affected items:

file: C:\ProgramData\Synaptics\Synaptics.exe

regkey: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\RUN\\Synaptics Pointing Device Driver

runkey: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\RUN\\Synaptics Pointing Device Driver

Quarantined files are automatically removed

 

[Ringel05]

Welp I guess it's a good thing I only use my local network..... That was after going to my modem's admin page, setting security to the highest and changing the password. Of course I try to only buy peripherals and plug-ins from trusted vendors and check them for any malware before giving them open access to my computers/network.
Not to mention it's 2024 and security is much better than it was waaaaaay back then. Looks to me like you're stirring up a tempest in a tea pot........

 

[okfine]

Welp I guess it's a good thing I only use my local network..... That was after going to my modem's admin page, setting security to the highest and changing the password. Of course I try to only buy peripherals and plug-ins from trusted vendors and check them for any malware before giving them open access to my computers/network.
Not to mention it's 2024 and security is much better than it was waaaaaay back then. Looks to me like you're stirring up a tempest in a tea pot........

Security is way better. So good it nailed the worm instantly.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Reason enough for me to be on an iPhone or Mac.

I did pick up my first virus on a Mac, kept getting a notification of a virus, and the notification was using an exact replica of my System Settings, I got it by clicking on a link I saw on Facebook.

So I opened my System Settings and Programs and found something in there (forget how it was titled) but it was titled in all caps, a dead giveaway. After I deleted it, I quit getting notifications of a virus.

Clicking on the notification I was sent somewhere to purchase some bullshit that would "remove all viruses from my Mac", lol.

Probably not a virus, but either adware or spyware.
The goal of this kind of hijack is to get you to either buy the product it links to, or pay a subscription fee to a fake virus protection.
Viruses today are actually very rare, and almost none of them work.
Adware and spyware is absolutely everywhere and according to studies approximately 90% of all PCs in America are infected with at LEAST one.