 Go ahead. USB Killer 2.0, yet another USB device designed to strike fear in the minds of defenseless non-techie masses. But unlike the creatively named rubber ducky or the hacksaw and switchblade USB methods thoroughly documented as part of an hour-long 240p epic by Hack 5 back in 2006, the USB Killer is literal. It's a USB device that will kill what you plug into it. The original USB Killer applied a negative charge of 120 volts to the 5-volt VUSB pin on the port, effectively destroying the USB controller and its power regulation circuitry. USB Killer 2.0 kicks it up a notch, bumping up the negative voltage to around 200 volts and it hits it directly in the data pins. Chances are, any device that you plug it into will no longer be functioning properly. Some may survive, but the majority won't. And terrifyingly enough, this isn't just limited to laptops and desktop computers. It even works on phones, TVs, and cars. If you can plug a USB device into it, it may be vulnerable to this attack. So this is the part where I demo it, right? Truthfully I had my reservations about actually killing a bunch of hardware. I mean, it's been done many times before, but this is Linus Tech Tips. Linus is the man that bought a $17,000 UPS. Linus is the man that decided that he needed a 180TB server just so we'd never have to delete a single file. All in the name of excess. So maybe it would be appropriate to kill his recently finished desk PC project that you guys waited so long to see completed. So follow me, and let's do just that. Massdrop is currently featuring the EMU Purple Heart closed-back headphones. Check this and other drops out in the link below. Okay, so as you probably guessed, just like all the other YouTube pranks, that was fake. I didn't get fired. The computer is fine. The flash drive I plugged it into is completely harmless. I just flipped the switch on the power bar with my foot as I put it in. But the attack is real. And the drive I have here, now actually in there, is the real thing. USB Killer's official YouTube channel has plenty of videos showing it killing things like Xboxes and even a car. And if you won't take their word for it, our buddy Austin Evans zapped two different laptops, a TV, and even a phone. But how does it work? Well, it actually uses your own device against you. When you plug your USB Killer into a device, it cycles through rapidly charging its own capacitors off of the device and then discharging them at the previously mentioned negative, more specifically about 220 volts. A heck of a lot more than both the 5 volts USB is designed for and the 15 volts that would already have been enough to kill most devices. This cycle is repeated many times per second until the USB Killer is removed. And you can reuse it as many times as you want, that is, until a teacher confiscates it and calls your parents. Do you need to buy one then? Well, people have actually been making their own by modifying random USB devices that actually work for it, or even taking the flash circuitry out of a disposable camera and reworking it to load up the capacitor and discharge over USB. It's not even that complicated. You salvage the transistor, transformer, resistor, diode, and capacitor from the camera, add a power source if the camera isn't suitable, throw a button in for ease of use, and then send it all over USB. And you're done. And so is the device. Does this crude method work? Yeah. And you don't even need the host device to charge it. To test it, we grabbed an old Acer Aspire 1 from 2008 that Linus had in the e-waste pile for recycling. Now everything in the computer isn't magically dead. I wouldn't trust the motherboard or the CPU anymore, but the rest should honestly pretty much be fine. When throwing that much voltage around, I'm not going to guarantee anything. But this isn't a data destruction method, and the hard drive in here almost certainly still works. Okay, so enough about how easy it is for people to brick your stuff. How do you protect yourself? Well the US government suggests not plugging things into your computer. Thanks, guys. Outside of that, you probably can't. Physically capping USB ports, adding so-called USB condoms, or installing the USB killer test shield have been cited as ways to defend against this. But as long as the attacker has enough ingenuity to unplug whatever you plugged in, they will be able to quickly bypass your protection. Unfortunately, outside of filling all your USB ports with cement, if anyone has direct access to your computer that is vulnerable to this type of attack, and they're enough of a dick to actually do it, you're screwed. USB Type-C will sort of have a solution to this, which is a new cryptographic authentication that can stop unauthorized and uncertified devices from connecting. But as with pretty much all things done this way, there will almost assuredly be a way to bypass it. The best way to protect against this attack is to have the manufacturer of your device install an optocoupler. These are also known as photocouplers, or optical isolators. They're components that transfer electrical signals between two isolated circuits by using light, effectively preventing high voltages from reaching the entire system, even if the port loses its ability to transmit and receive data. This is better than nothing, but not many companies have even implemented these outside of Apple, so be sure to hit up your favorite device manufacturer and tell them to get a kraken. In conclusion, just as we've always said, don't plug random USB devices into things. If you don't trust it, just throw it away. And no, this isn't a meme or a hoax. You shouldn't try this on your friend's computer because it's illegal. And honestly, it's just not even funny. You're just killing hardware for no reason. Braintree is code for simple online payments. If you're building a mobile app and searching for a simple payment solution, check out Braintree. With Braintree's V.0 SDK, which is one small snippet of code, you are set up in less than 10 minutes and they have support staff ready to walk you through the entire process over the phone if you need them. Their code supports Android, iOS, and JavaScript clients, and they have SDKs in seven different programming languages. They make it easy to offer multiple payment types, including PayPal, Apple Pay, Bitcoin, Venmo, Android Pay, credit cards, and even more, all with one simple integration. To learn more, head over to BraintreePayments.com slash Linus. Thanks for watching, guys. This video sucked, you know what to do. But if it was awesome, get subscribed, hit that like button, or check out the link below that goes to Amazon and buy anything that isn't this. Anything else. Whatever, whatever it is. I don't care. You can also buy a shirt at the link below that, or go on the community forum to discuss this video and others. Now, if you're wondering what to watch next, check this out, which is any video done by Brandon.