BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops

Re:BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops by somedude895 on Wednesday December 15, 2021 @10:22AM (#29567119)

> You need something not for when your laptop is removed from you, but when you are removed from your laptop.

Yeah, this wouldn't have saved the admin of Alphabay, a now defunct darknet market. The FBI staged a car crash outside his house so when he'd come out to see what was going on they could arrest him and likely get to his laptop while it was unlocked. Then again, he really shouldn't have left his computer unlocked.

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Re:BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops by mdrzn on Wednesday December 15, 2021 @10:45AM (#29567518)

> Alphabay

Related video is all I could find about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXrXD1M6kXk

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Re:BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops by alias_neo on Wednesday December 15, 2021 @10:58AM (#29567764)

That seems like a great expense to go to for the sake of a possibility the guy might do more than peek out of the window and then go back to what they were doing.

Surely there were a bunch of other options to consider before "let's stage a car crash"?

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Re:BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops by somedude895 on Thursday December 16, 2021 @02:08AM (#29575826)

I heard the story on the Darknet Diaries podcast.

This article on Vice[0] seems to confirm it:

> Phirippidis told the audience that the bureau managed to corner Cazes and arrest him while he was still logged in as the admin of AlphaBay by ramming a car through the front gate of his home in Thailand.

[0] https://www.vice.com/en/article/59wwxx/fbi-airs-alexandre-ca...

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Re:BusKill – A USB kill cord for laptops by alias_neo on Thursday December 16, 2021 @03:43AM (#29576305)

Thanks for the link, that was an interesting read.

The part abour crashing it through his front gate makes it more likely he'll respond which makes more sense.

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