When the new Apple MacBook was launched on March 9 along with the Apple Watch, it also came with a unique feature that no other MacBook or laptop has ever had, it features the single USB Type C port.
As if to say that it does not want to be left out by the competition, Google subsequently launched a few days later the new version of its flagship laptop, the Chromebook Pixel with the same USB Type-C port.
Apparently, the USB Type-C port is currently basking on its newfound glory although it seems that it will not be short-lived.
While the single plug further makes the very thin 12-inch Apple MacBook look brilliant and uncluttered on its sides, it also made the device quite vulnerable to firmware attacks. The same holds true of course for the Google Chromebook Pixel.
Security problem
Indeed, the USB Type-C port is versatile and more powerful but unfortunately, it also comes with serious security problems, notes The Verge.
Type-C is still based on the USB standard and it is common knowledge among laptop and computer users that the device is prone to nasty firmware attacks. In particular, the most common virus in USBs is the BadUSB, which have nearly affected everyone who has used a USB device on their laptop or desktop one way or the other.
Virus that attacks the USB can actually linger over the device ports or even go straight to direct memory access, which are bad enough.
What is even worse in the case of the new Apple MacBook is that the single USB Type-C port is actually bundled with the power cord in a single universal plug. So when a virus gets to the USB, it does not just compromise the devices itself but the power going into the device, and that is quite worrisome, or scarier since it is definitely harder to avoid.
By having the power plug coupled together on the USB Type-C port, the Apple MacBook has actually opened a major virus attack avenue, only this time, it comes with more serious consequences.
Borrowed charger attack
By using the single USB Type-C port, the new Apple MacBook and the Google Chromebook Pixel have exposed themselves to what can be fittingly describe as a borrowed charger attack.
For sure, the new chargers that shall come with the laptops when they are bought from the store shall be free from the BadUSB virus, but it is always easy to get infected by using other chargers in the event the user failed to bring his charger when he went some place.
Almost every person with a laptop has shared a power cable at some point, whose number is a lot higher than those who plug in to their laptops a stranger’s USB disk, so the risk of attack on the new Apple MacBook and the Google Chromebook Pixel via the power plug is much higher.
Obviously, the best way to avoid getting infected with the BadUSB virus or any other firmware attack that goes through via the USB port is by avoiding any charger that the user did not buy himself.