I May Have Been Wrong About U3
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In my Fun Toy for Geeks post, I gave the impression that U3 technology is pretty cool. Opinions vary, as they usually do, but I have at least one major concern: U3 could be compromised and used to steal private information. All some hacker would have to do is hook into U3 so that it installs a rootkit, keylogger, or other malware unbeknownst to the user.
The program logic would go something like this: 1. Check for a U3-enabled device; 2. Silently install the application to the U3 device; 3. Autorun the malware upon device insertion; 4. Collect all passwords and other private information entered while device is inserted and send them to the hacker’s ftp site.
For those of you who are also worried about this, you can download a U3 uninstaller here. Simply formatting the device WILL NOT remove U3.
Chris Pirillo has his own opinion and a link to another uninstaller, the one I used.
I’m not saying U3 is evil (though there are those who do), but I just don’t feel comfortable with it and I never want to steer any of my readers in the wrong direction.
What do you think? I’d love to hear of your experiences.
Cheers!
The Geek
Have a computer problem? A question about your latest gadget? Click here to Ask the Geek! Kenny “The Geek” Harthun has been playing with geeky stuff since 1965. He’s a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer with Connective Computing, Inc. providing network, desktop and info security support services to a wide range of clients.
6 Comments
marc klink
June 4th, 2007
at 8:09pm
Forewarned is fore armed. Since I don’t keep the U3 sticks I have plugged in all the time, I could not suffer from this. Also, I don’t use them to store sensitive information. For those that do, this is a good warning.
There is a new spec being worked on by MS and others, which should address this concern. However, anytime encryption on a device is used I worry about device failure, with the attending loss of information.
codeman38
June 5th, 2007
at 10:12am
My biggest annoyance with U3 is that it shows up as two devices under Linux and OS X, both of which must be unmounted to guarantee a safe eject. Granted, it also shows up as two partitions under Windows, but at least in Windows the second partition *is* useful; in those other operating systems, it’s just a bunch of space that’s unnecessarily taken up by Windows executables and that can’t be cleared off.
FAb
June 5th, 2007
at 8:45pm
well… that is why you need anti-keyloggers - ti be protected from keyloggers in order not to uninstall such a useful things like U3. Can recommend this site http://www.anti-keylogger.org
CarlS
June 5th, 2007
at 9:32pm
U3 Launchpad update SW for Windows Vista
http://www2.pny.com/support/support_landing_cat.aspx?SectionID=1057
Udo J.
June 6th, 2007
at 4:21am
Hi Kenny,
Regarding your recent U3 commentary, I myself find the U3 utility obnoxious. I wiped it from my SanDisk U3 drives with the Geek Squad utility I found on some forum a few months ago. This same 2.5MB U3_Uninstaller.exe file link from ‘geekyjock.com’ is still good as of today, and works great. The file directly available from the U3.com web site is similar, but hangs up my WinXP computer if I accidentally try to use it with no U3 flash drive running. I then have to use the Windows Task Manager to disable it.
For those still using Win98SE (yes, I regularly use it as a backup in case of WinXP incompatibilities), there is a nice Windows 98 USB Mass Storage Device Driver, (nusb31e.exe), available from: that allows you to use your SanDisk, Kingston, etc., USB2 WinXP only flash drive, etc., also on Win98SE. It works just fine! Just religiously follow the directions on the above ‘tech-assistance’ web site, and your thumb drive will now also operate on Win98SE!
Using a hint on another forum, in addition to now being able to use my thumb drives on Win98SE, I was also able to use my supposed Win2k/XP only LG GSA-E10L & E30L external DVD-writers on Win98SE, though not the LightScribe function, of course. Talk about a very happy camper! I used some modified Kingston ‘inf’ files, etc., to achieve this. Let me know if you or any of the Gnomies would be interested in this extra proceedure. I’m pretty sure it will work on other external WinXP/2k DVD writers. Finally, the only external DVD writer that I’ve found that also comes with a downloaded manufacturers’ own Win98SE driver, and reads and writes 12x DVD-RAM discs, is the Memorex MRX-525GE Multiformat DVD Writer, available at ‘Office Max’. It does not do LightScribe, though!
Can’t really justify another external writer, though I sure would be interested in a comparison with the above LG drives! Take care! Udo J.
gnomewriter
June 6th, 2007
at 3:17pm
Hey, thanks for the comments everybody! Cheers! The Geek
Marc–Good for you. No one should ever keep any kind of sensitive personal information on a thumb drive unless it is encrypted. I have tested TrueCrypt on my thumb drives and it works great. Kingston’s SecureTraveler is also pretty reliable.
Codeman38–Yeah, it mounts that stuff as part of the U3 System. Not very elegant. Still, some people like it and are willing to put up with it.
FAb–Thanks for the link. Looks like a good site.
CarlS–Thanks for the link.
Udo–Thanks for the info. I still have a Win98SE box at work, so I have drivers for my thumb drives. It was a good OS. They should have left it alone instead of releasing WinME, the disaster.