NSA’s surveillance kit Cottonmouth-I reconstructed by hackers for just $20

$20 surveillance kit : Hackers recreate the NSA Spying Kit using junkyard items.

Hackers have managed to create a spy plug inspired by the NSA’s surveillance kit – and it costs just $20 to make it and wait, NSA buys it for $20,000. ย Recently leaked documents from Snowden leaks indicate that NSA has been employing surveillance tools that costs $20,000 (ยฃ13,200) for snooping and use ย it to target secure and offline networks.

A team of hackers lead by Michael Ossman, a wireless security researcher and founder of Great Scott Gadgets,ย have created their own version of the surveillance kit. It involves a circuit board, transceiver and a cover โ€“ total of $20 (ยฃ13). They put a radio-frequency implant inside a USB stick called TURNIPSCHOOL. ย The team demonstrated it at SchmooCon, Washington at over the weekend.

NSA uses a covert surveillance device in a USB stick called Cottonmouth-I . It lets users launch a man in a middle-style (MiTm) attack by plugging into a keyboard or mouse port and installing malware on computers.NSA's surveillance kit Cottonmouth-I reconstructed by hackers for just $20

The device is so designed that it can control the malware, even on supposed the so-called โ€˜airgappedโ€™ computers. An air-gap or air wall is basically a network security measure.
The gaps are so designed that they can secure computer networks that are physically isolated from unsecured networks, such as the internet or a LAN.

Amazingly TURNIPSCHOOL was made to see if that if someone could create something similar to Cottonmouth-1, in terms of size and functions.ย It is part of a wider plan called a NSA Playsetย which is a set of projects seeking to duplicate in open source the capabilities in the NSA’s toolbox. The plan was presented during a gathering by the team including researchers Michael Ossman, with collaborators Dominic Spill and Jared Boone.

24EA6CD200000578-2920419-The_Turnipschool_project_was_inspired_by_a_covert_stick_called_C-a-3_1421863840080The apparatus is made up of a processor with a built-in radio on a circuit house that fits inside a created USB plug. Researchers from Israel recently designed mechanism program that logs keystrokes.

This program transmits strokes around FM radio signals generated by the PCโ€™s graphics card. The information is picked by a circuit designed mobile version to collect the radio signals.

Since FM radio signals travel over prolonged distances, a receiver could be placed in another building.ย The circuit board is a custom made version and costs $1.50 (99p) to make. The microcontroller is manufactured by Texas Instruments, with a radio-frequency transceiver that costs around $4 (ยฃ2.65). Other collections embody a 3D-printed injection cover and cosmetic cover.

At a moment, TURNIPSCHOOL has a capability to bond with and โ€˜sniffโ€™ a network, and a subsequent step is to make it attack the computer when it connected to.

USB implants were among a most talked about gadgets in a NSA catalogue after it leaked final year,โ€™ pronounced a researchers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvVzei8Pl2I

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