Journalists targeted by USB drives that explode in PCs

If you get a strange, blank USB drive sent to you in the mail, don’t put it into your PC. That’s just basic data security, but for a few journalists in Ecuador, it’s become potentially life-saving advice.

A TV network had to call in the local police after a flash drive exploded when a journalist inserted the drive into a USB port. Reportedly the gadget was rigged to trigger a small amount of RDX, a military-grade chemical explosive, when the computer’s electrical charge engaged over the USB connection.

As reported by the local TV channel, police, and the Associated Press (via PCMag), no one was hurt in the small explosion. Police determined that only half of the drive’s explosive load was triggered. Four other explosive USB drives have been sent to journalists and news agencies in Ecuador, three of which failed to detonate and the last of which was intercepted by postal carriers before it arrived. Police have one suspect so far, but the investigation is ongoing.

Organized crime is suspected. The journalist who unknowingly triggered the explosion, Lenín Artieda, covers crime and corruption in Ecuador, where hundreds of attacks against journalists and media outlets occur every year. While the improvised flash drive bombs have failed to hurt anyone so far, even a small amount of explosive inside a plastic or metal casing could cause serious injury via grenade-style shrapnel shreds. Journalists in Ecuador and elsewhere are on the lookout for more of the unmarked explosives.