ATC-NY INC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices such as thumb drives are commonly used to share informa

Description

Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices such as thumb drives are commonly used to share information between computers. These innocuous-looking devices, however convenient, also serve as vectors for attacks. For example, unsuspecting military personnel can easily carry malicious software or hardware into secure environments via USB thumb drives. Malicious USB devices present a significant risk to users, but USB and commercial operating systems do not protect against malicious devices. ATC-NY is developing USB Steward, a USB firewall that drastically reduces the risk presented by malicious USB hardware. USB Steward is a physical device that separates the host computer from an untrusted USB device, filtering communication between the host and device and enforcing the USB standards. USB Steward combines existing and novel approaches in innovative ways to solve problems not addressed by existing software-based controls, enabling users at secure facilities to use USB devices.