Meet PoisonTap, the $5 tool that ransacks password-protected computers

By Dan Goodin

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Biz & IT

The perils of leaving computers unattended is about to get worse.

Credit: Samy Kamkar

The perils of leaving computers unattended just got worse, thanks to a newly released exploit tool that takes only 30 seconds to install a privacy-invading backdoor, even when the machine is locked with a strong password. PoisonTap, as the tool has been dubbed, runs freely available software on a $5/£4 Raspberry Pi Zero device. Once the payment card-sized computer is plugged into a compu…

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