This iconic dangerous USB hacking tool is back with a vengeance TechRadar Skip to main content TechRadar is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's why you can trust us. This iconic dangerous USB hacking tool is back with a vengeance By Sead Fadilpašić published 17 August 2022 RubberDucky is back to steal your passwords and more (Image credit: Pixabay) Audio player loading… Rubber Ducky, the USB hacking tool that has reached celebrity status due to its part notoriety, has gotten a brand-new iteration, one more dangerous than ever before. Security expert Darren Kitchen showed off Rubber Ducky 3.0 at the recent DEF CON event, showing there's still life in the iconic threat yet. The biggest change is in the DuckyScript programming language, used to create various malicious (opens in new tab) commands. While the best earlier versions could do was write keystroke sequences, this version's language is rich in features, allowing users to write various functions, store variables, and even use if-then-else controls. Increased flexibility These upgrades should eliminate one of the biggest drawdowns of the product - needing to craft specific commands, for specific operating systems and software versions. In other words, older variants of RubberDucky weren't as nearly as flexible as 3.0 aims to be. With the new version, the tool can check to see if it's plugged into a Windows or a Mac device and act accordingly. It can also steal data from the compromised endpoint (opens in new tab) by encoding it in binary and sending it through the signals usually used to tell a keyboard if it should turn the LED lights for CapsLock or NumLock on or off.Read more> You'll soon be able to shut down your Chromebook USB ports (opens in new tab) > Hackers are mailing out USB drives infected with ransomware (opens in new tab) > Check out the best firewalls out there (opens in new tab) So in theory, an attacker could plug the USB drive into a device for just a few seconds and walk away with stolen credentials. While the device does sound ominous, it's important to know that it's after all a physical device, and without physical access to the target computer, it's useless. So, the chances of it being used at scale are close to zero. And with the cost of a single device being almost $60, it's highly unlikely someone would buy hundreds of them and leave them scattered around coffee shops and libraries, just to steal people's passwords. However, high-profile individuals should be wary when being handed over USB devices (opens in new tab) (or finding one, anywhere).These are the best antivirus (opens in new tab) programs out there today Via: The Verge (opens in new tab) Sead Fadilpašić Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he's written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He's also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications. See more Computing news Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to theTechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Thank you for signing up to TechRadar. You will receive a verification email shortly. There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again. MOST POPULARMOST SHARED1You may not have to sell a body part to afford the Nvidia RTX 4090 after all2Blizzard made me explain Overwatch 2 smurfing to my mum for nothing3Apple October launches: the new devices we might see this month4Google's AI editing tricks are making Photoshop irrelevant for most people5One of the world's most popular programming languages is coming to Linux1Best laptops for designers and coders 2The iPhone 14 Pro is made of the wrong stuff; the Pixel 7 proves that to me3Stop saying Mario doesn't have an accent in The Super Mario Bros. Movie4Microsoft Teams users are using it for a really bad reason, so stop now5iPhone 15 tipped to come with an upgraded 5G chip Technology Magazines (opens in new tab)● (opens in new tab)The best tech tutorials and in-depth reviewsFrom$12.99 (opens in new tab)View (opens in new tab)