USB Thief: A New USB-based Data-Stealing Trojan

Sue Wayne

Apr 19, 2023 • Filed to: USB Recovery • Proven solutions

Feel annoyed about USB Thief? Curious about this novel trojan? If you say yes, then you come to the right place. Here in this article, you will get to know what is USB thief, and how this is tricky virus steals your data even without your knowing. Even in the Tip section, you will also know about how to recover your lost data.

USB Thief is a new USB-based trojan that steals data from your computer system quickly. The new Trojan relies on USB devices only. It spreads through USB drives and steals data from the PC without your notice. If you use USB devices to transfer data from one system to another, then you must be a little careful as this new Trojan can steal your sensitive data. This article has provided a comprehensice information about the USB thief, and also guidelines that can help you protect your USB device and PC system from this new malware attack. Scroll down and get your problems sloved.

Navigation

Part 1: Introduction to USB Thief

What Is USB Thief?

ESET discovered a new type of malware that steals data from your computer system through USB devices. This new Trojan is called USB Thief which is spreading like wildfire across the globe. Being a new type of Trojan, there is not much information available to us. However, we do know about how this virus spreads and how you can prevent it from entering your device.

How USB Thief Infects Your Computer System?

Most viruses spread through the standard technique i.e. autorun. However, this new type of malware is designed with a unique technique. This trojan relies on USB devices and runs itself through a USB drive medium. When you insert a USB device, the virus finds out the suitable application installed on your computer system to run.

Popular applications such as Mozilla Firefox, NotePad+++, and many others are compatible with this malware. So whenever you run a particular application on your computer system, the malware also runs in the background without your notice.

Since this malware resides on USB devices only, it doesn't leave any evidence of its establishment in your computer system. This makes it even harder to identify whether your system's data got stolen or not.

Part 2: What We Can Do to Mitigate USB Thief Attack?

There are multiple ways with which one can prevent USB thief attacks on their computer systems. Let's find out the best methods to keep your computer system and USB devices safe from USB thieves.

Method 1: Disable USB Ports

By disabling the USB ports of your system, nobody can access your computer's data through USB ports. When you disable the USB ports, the system will not be able to read the inserted device which ultimately stops the access of your computer's data. Follow these steps to disable USB ports.

Step 1:

Press the Windows Menu Key from your computer's keyboard. This will open up the Windows Menu bar.

Step 2:

Now, select the Device Manager option.

Step 3:

From this page, search for the option “Universal Serial Bus Controllers”. Click the ">" icon to expand it.

Step 4:

Right-click on the USB ports available on your system and select the Disable option.

That's all you have to do to disable USB ports from your Windows system. You can enable the required port by following the same steps.

Method 2: Use Trustworthy Storage Devices

Do not plug any unknown USB drive into your system. Make sure you use only trustworthy USB devices to transfer data from one PC to another. Many USB devices now come with security features that prevent the access of data from unknown sources and unauthorized persons. To see the safest USB drive: read from: Top 10 Encrypted USB Flash Drives You Need to Know

Always use multiple USB devices for your Work and Home use. To make your USB device and its data more secure, you are requested to use a reliable Antivirus or antimalware software.

Method 3: Use Antimalware Software

Antimalware is a specially designed software for computer systems to prevent different types of malware such as adware, spyware, etc. The software scans the software and files stored in your computer system and external drives. This is the best tool to keep your system's data protected from hackers. Here's the list of the Best Antimalware Software for your PC.

Best Antimalware Software

1. Bitdefender

Bitdefender is the world's best antivirus software provider. The company offers a range of different types of antivirus and antimalware software to safeguard your computer system.

Bitdefender's Antivirus software provides top-notch security features to prevent malware and virus attacks. The same software scans for suspicious files which you can delete or remove from your system.

This multi-purpose tool provides a bunch of extra features that make your web surfing secured. It also protects your online transactions and banking data from hackers.

2. Norton 360

Norton 360 comes with an advanced technique to protect your computer system. It uses artificial intelligence to identify malware and virus attacks on a computer system. This software protects your system from the latest malware such as Ransomware, Spyware, AdWare, and USB Thief.

The best thing about this Antimalware Software is it comes with a set of extra security features including a built-in VPN. The built-in VPN lets you surf the Internet anonymously by hiding your IP Address.

This software is ideal for both home and office use. It is also highly recommended for enterprises where multiple computer systems are involved. A lot of other features are included in this latest Antimalware Software which is available for both Windows and Mac systems.

3. McAfee

McAfee protects your system from viruses and malware attacks. This popular and well-known tool has been redesigned with new security features. The upgraded McAfee Antimalware software now protects your system from all the known malware. It is also effective against the latest USB Thief Trojan.

It comes with a unique real-time protection engine that runs in the background of your system. This feature identifies malware or any other malicious file stored in your system. The software can detect and remove malware present on your system as well as in your USB drive.

McAfee Software comes with different packages and plans. You can explore the available plans and their features to get the best of security against virus and malware attacks.

Now that you have learned how to prevent your PC from the usb thief attack, let's move on to the most tricky part——how to recover your lost data.

Extra Tip: How to Recover Lost Data from USB?

A virus-infected USB device is dangerous to your system. The only way with which you can recover lost files from the formatted USB drive is by using third-party recovery software. If you have lost important files and data stored in your USB drive due to malware, then you could rely on data recovery software to restor your data. One of the software is called Wondershare Recoverit to recover all the data from a USB drive.

Recoverit is very simple but well-functioning for the beginners to use. Only 3-step can your data be recovered. You can download below and have a try, if you're facing data loss problem.

How does Recoverit Software Work?

Recoverit data recovery software is designed for all types of PC users. If you have accidentally deleted the important files and data stored in an external USB drive or if you have formatted the drive due to Malware and Viruses, you can recover the data stored in the drive easily with just three steps.

If you are wondering about how you can get back lost or accidentally deleted files and documents from the USB drive, then here's the step-by-step guideline for you. The following steps would help you recover all types of files from the USB drive.

Step 1:

The first thing you need to do is install the Recoverit software on a respective Computer system. The software is available for both Windows and Mac PC systems.

Step 2:

Once the software is installed, launch it on your system. Make sure that you have inserted the USB drive to recover the lost data from it. You can plug in the device even after launching this software.

Step 3:

As soon as you plugged the USB drive, you would see the device on your screen under the External Devices folder. Kindly select the device from which you want to recover the data.

Step 4:

The software will begin the scanning process to scan for the lost files stored in the device. After completing the scanning process, you would be able to select and preview the files. Select the files you want to recover from this USB drive.

Step 5:

At last, click on the Recover button. The selected files will be recovered one by one to a separate folder. You can even customize this option by changing the export folder as per your requirement.

You're done! The selected files will be recovered and stored in a separate folder. You can also change the folder of recovered files as per your preference using the Settings option.

Video tutorial: How To Recover Data From USB Flash Drive And External Hard Drive?

Recent Videos from Recoverit

View More >

Conclusion:

Now the USB Thief is for sure not strange to you any more. And during the process you read this article, you have understood the basics of this new malware and how you ccould protect your computer system and USB drives from the attack of this malware.

In addition, when you lost data, which means the data doesn't exist in your PC, you can choose Wondershare Recoverit to retrieve your lost files, images, audios, videos, etc. However, if your data has been stolen by the USB thief, you cannot stop the process of data leaking, but you still have your data in your computer.

For the first situation, I recommend using Wondershare Recoverit Data Recovery Software to recover the lost files, data, and documents from your USB drive after the malware attack. For the second one, I have also provide you some methods with can mitigate this damage. I hope you enjoy a healthy and secure internet environmen.