Would You Insert An Unknown Flash Drive Into Your Computer?
By Jeff Unruh
@mypointsju (583)
Westland, Michigan
April 19, 2016 8:10am CST
It is an interesting social test. If you found a USB flash drive at a school, would you insert it into your computer to try to figure out who it belong to?
As most people known you can put some software on flash drives that could do damage to a computer or steal your information.
There has been multiple tests done on if people found a lost flash drive and would they insert it into a computer? The results I have seen is anywhere from 45-60% of the people will insert it into a computer (I have add the link on the bottom of the post to one of the news articles to this discussion).
Would I fall victim of this if I saw a flash drive on the ground? Until I read these stories, I would say yes I would have (I am sucker for trying to help people), especially if it was at a school or a workplace that I trusted. Now after reading a few new articles like the one I linked, I would now just turn in the flash drive to lost and found.
Do you think you would have inserted a flash drive into a PC if you found it at a public place that maybe in your mind you trusted (library, school, etc.)?
Researchers sprinkled a campus with thumb drives and found that almost half of them were plugged in and had files opened – risky business!
8 people like this
11 responses
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
19 Apr 16
I would still be4 likely to check the drive, despite previously knowing the potential danger.
I would stop the wifi connection and try the flash drive. If there was any undesirable software on the drive I would simply reformat the drive and reinstall Windows.
2 people like this
@mypointsju (583)
• Westland, Michigan
19 Apr 16
You are more tech savy than most people. Maybe I would insert it on an old computer that I turned off Wi-Fi, but the computers I have had home now, took me a while to get to the point I am happy with what is on the computer and I would hate to reinstall everything.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
19 Apr 16
@mypointsju That is the same for me, but I have a desktop and laptop so I could take my time reinstalling. I do this periodically anyway to refresh the computer.
@LdeL0318 (6402)
• Philippines
19 Apr 16
@mypointsju Yeah, my anticirus automatically detects and deletes suspicious files.
@mypointsju (583)
• Westland, Michigan
19 Apr 16
I understand if you share it with a co-worker, but if you find it on the ground, that might be different, but if you work in a computer shop than you are more into computers than I am.
1 person likes this
@mypointsju (583)
• Westland, Michigan
19 Apr 16
@LdeL0318 Anti-virus programs have flaws, but yes we all should have them. About 15 years ago, I was running 2 different popular antivirus programs and I got a nasty virus that was slowing my PC down. It was not malware, but a virus. Everything I checked, there was only 2 antivirus programs that could get rid of it, but it was paid antivirus and well I am cheap, so I ended up reformatting my drive.
1 person likes this
@Hate2Iron (15730)
• Canada
19 Apr 16
No way... Lost and found would be the best way to handle the situation.
@gudheart (12659)
•
19 Apr 16
@mypointsju I am quite vary about such things. But there are many that would do the same.
@mypointsju (583)
• Westland, Michigan
19 Apr 16
Until I read these stories, I would have fallen victim.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325345)
• Rockingham, Australia
21 Apr 16
I'm not sure what I'd do. I think I'd just hand it in as I'm not very computer savvy anyway.
@JudyEv (325345)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 Apr 16
@mypointsju I am pretty naive in that way. I never think that someone may be trying to put something over me.
@mypointsju (583)
• Westland, Michigan
22 Apr 16
@JudyEv I guess that is me also.
1 person likes this
@mypointsju (583)
• Westland, Michigan
22 Apr 16
It worries me because before I read these articles I think the nice person in me would have tried to figure out who lost it and I would insert it into the computer to see if I could figure out whose it was.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
19 Apr 16
I never would. Computers are too easy to screw up.
@mypointsju (583)
• Westland, Michigan
19 Apr 16
I agree, but I find 45-60% if the people did in the test.
@topffer (42156)
• France
19 Apr 16
Since about ten years, quite all my computers are running Linux, and since 10 years I have not detected any Linux virus, but only Windows malware. Even a Linux virus would not be able to do a lot of damages (it would be allowed to write only on 2, not sensible, directories), so I would definitely insert any unknown flash drive in one of my computers
.
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@rina110383 (24495)
•
19 Apr 16
No, I never inserted other flash drives into my computer except those that I own.
