Brad Ideas - Powered USB Hub in my hotel room, and more - Comments

nice espionage device

gpshead — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 16:18:48 -0700

Unless someone carries USB cables without data pins, this would be a great way to steal guests personal data. Cars are starting to have USB ports instead of "12vdc outlets" (former cigarette lighters), also a good target for this.

Regardless of that, I agree. Good idea. Paranoids can carry non-data cables.

Theft

Alex Goldman — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 06:38:45 -0700

The last hotel I stayed in (at F2C) had trouble keeping +Ethernet cables+ in hotel rooms. Unless there's a way to cement them to the wall, they'll get stolen.

The cable in two rooms was broken, and the manager said that people try to steal them even though they have a bulky plastic paperweight / ad attached to them.

There is this risk, true

brad — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:17:57 -0700

Though of course it is better to run an OS that won’t execute code from a USB device plugged into it!

You may be right that you can’t actually use the hub to access devices. It is still handy of course for recharging. Though you make me realize that if you plug your PDA/phone into it, it could then suck the data out of your phone. So there are downsides of having power and data on the same bus. One could have charging cables that have no data bits, I suppose.

(Though not for my damned RAZR, which refuses to charge from ordinary USB unless you install drivers on the computer to command it to accept a charge, or use a custom USB cable with the data wires shorted.)

I have wished there was a way to trust a hotel keyboard, though there is not. You can probably trust a hotel mouse as a mouse, but since it could pretend to be other things, such as a CD or keyboard, you may not be able to trust even that.

One thing I proposed is a rule that devices which let you plug in external keyboards don’t let you type passwords on the keyboards — only on the device itself. If they see you typing on the external keyboard when a password box is open in the browser, they could beep loudly at you. But it’s not enough.

Hotel-provided USB hub == security nightmare

Brent Chapman — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:12:58 -0700

I shudder at the thought of the damage somebody malicious could do with a USB hub in hotel rooms. There's no security designed in to USB; the assumption is, if you're connecting to a device via USB, it's "your" device and you trust it. If a drive appears on the USB chain, you mount it. If it's got an autoexec.bat (or equivalent), you run it. You can set your system to be more distrustful of USB-connected devices, but that's not the default. So, imagine a malicious USB hub with a virus-infected drive built in (or hidden between the desk and the wall)...

let's start with enough plugs

Russ Nelson — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:30:25 -0700

I remember sharing an OSCON room with Eric Raymond once, and between the two of us we used up every plug in the room PLUS the six plugs on the power strip I brought with (and a good thing it was that I did.)

But yeah, everything else you say is correct, too. At least some airports are starting to provide seats with 110V and USB plugs.

Powered USB Hub in my hotel room, and more

brad — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:31:39 -0700

What should be in a good hotel room?

Well, one thing that’s easy to add to the list is a powered USB hub, with as many as 6 ports and a 3 amp power supply. Toss in some mini-USB cables (possibly just built into the hub) as they have become, for better or worse, the present-day universal charging standard. (At only 2.5 watts, USB is a bit anemic as charging standard, but it’s what we have for now.) A mouse would be nice too, but is a security risk.

Alas, we can’t have a keyboard on it, as nice as that would be, since that can’t be trusted. It might have a keylogger put in it (even by the previous occupant of the room) to grab passwords.

Now this is a fairly cheap item (under $20) and like many other hotel items, it could also be available at the front desk, though it’s so cheap I don’t see a reason for that. While you could not be sure it would be there at every hotel, it would still be useful, since it can add to the charging you bring, and most laptops can be a charging station if you are willing to leave them on overnight. It’s also useful as a hub. Indeed, have two, one on the desk, and one by the bed for cell phones.

We’re almost ready to not need the hotel phone unless you are coming from overseas and pay ridiculous roaming charges. But they still need it to call you sometimes, and I don’t want to have to hand over my mobile number at check-in.

Most hotel rooms now are getting a flat-screen HDTV. That’s great, but rarely do they offer up the VGA port that many of these TVs have, or a cable to plug it in. I recommend a 1080p TV for each room, located in such a way that it can be an external monitor for my laptop. As such there should be a VGA cable connected or handy. The TV could also be connected to the USB hub, and use a video over USB protocol for devices that have USB out but not video out. (This usually needs a driver and has some limitations.)