I had previously read about USB flash drives dropped on the parking with some malware, so that if you pick it up and use it it infects your computer in order to spy on your activity. But I browser new arrivals on DealExtreme, I found another nefarious use case thanks to U8 Mini USB drive / spy camera sold for around $10 shipped. If we look the picture below, it looks just like any other USB flash drives.
But once we have a closer look at U8 mini specifications:
- USB – 1x USB 2.0 male port
- Storage – micro SD slot up to 32GB (no internal storage)
- Camera
- Video up to 720 x 480 @ 25~30fps recording to AVI/M-JPEG
- Photo up to 1280×1024 in JPG format
- Audio recording with built-in microphone
- Misc – Motion detection camera button, power button, picture button, status LED
- Battery – 300 mAh good for about 60 minutes of… spying.
It’s clear what the purpose is.
It may have just landed in a new arrivals feed, and I had never heard about such device, but it’s been around for at least 5 years, as several people reviewed it in 2012.
The photo and video quality is poor, and motion detection is not working well (at least in the 2012 model), but apart from that it does the job.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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