An evil genius has shown the world how to create a homemade “USB Killer,” a USB stick that can effectively destroy a computer within one second.
The USB Killer was created by Thomas Kim, who posted an instructional video of how to create a USB stick that is capable of completely frying a computer’s motherboard in no less than a second. The USB Killer makes use of a capacitor, which combines with a disposable camera flash circuit and a battery to emit a 300 Volt electrical charge. The user holds down the button on the capacitor for a few seconds to charge it, before inserting it into the USB port of a PC. An electrical charge then successfully fries the motherboard, rendering the PC useless in the process.
Thomas demonstrates the effectiveness of the USB Killer in the below video, even offering a tutorial on how to make one for any particularly sadistic pranksters out there:
Though the USB Killer can successfully “kill” a PC, it shouldn’t harm any of the data stored in its hard drive, meaning that if the motherboard is replaced the computer destroyed by the stick should be able to get back up and running. However, this would require no small amount on behalf of the individual who owns the PC affected by the evil gadget, so it’s probably best that you refrain from trying it out on one of your friends at any point in the future.
