There are currently over 2,000 USB sticks glued, sealed with cement, plaster or quick-drying paste on walls around the world. From Australia to Germany, from Russia to India, through the United States and even to Antarctica – two of them –. The reason? Different.
This is what is known as a dead letter box, a modernized version of the real blind mailboxes in which, in the past, mail was deposited and someone, a few hours later, picked it up. A service that flourished during the Cold War and which now takes on another function: to be an “anonymous, offline, peer-to-peer file-sharing data network in the public space.” The problem is that they are not a secure medium.
What is the use of a USB stick stuck to the cement of a wall?
The idea for the “Dead Drops” USB sticks was part of a much more ambitious project planned in 2010 by German artist Aram Bartholl. It was actually all part of a public art installation in New York.
Since its inception, the project has grown exp onentially, with thousands of USB Dead Drops installed in cities around the world, from New York to Tokyo to Dakar. Although the initiative has faced technical challenges, such as the risk of malware and vandalism
One of the first users to echo this now-viral fact was YouTuber Mr Yeester. He plugged his laptop into one of these USB drives and discovered a single image file. He swiped and opened the photo from his desktop and the image was a brick wall.very similar to the one where the USB memory was integrated protruding from its connection. A conceptual joke, yes.
It was soon discovered that this was all part of the Dead Drops project, a system that currently has 2,263 registered USB drives with a total capacity of 70,425 GB. Less than 100 GB of virtual storage for file sharing between users. An isolated, decentralized system disconnected from the network so that everyone can attach what they want, a novel, a photo, a song.
Why do USB sticks keep showing up stuck to walls?
However, others have imitated the model and some for a more perverse purpose. For example, it is suspected that several religious associations do the same by depositing USB sticks in public places such as trains or airports and that they contain specific versions of the Christian Bible inside. But also that They are used to distribute malware that replicates itself as soon as it is connected to any iPhone, Mac or iPad.
And that’s the handicap: anyone. In other words, if someone decides to infect this memory, they can spread malware and damage all computers sharing this infected file. The author of the idea claims that “it is a Berlin multimedia artist” who started the project during his stay in New York as an artist in residence for EYEBEAM in 2010. In other words, it has no harmful goals.
But beyond the artistic vocation, this system has a real utility and value. It can be used to share old photos, forgotten music, PDF of books censored in some countries — something common in China — or to spread a virus in a very bold way. What must be clear is that it is not safe: they can hide secrets that corrupt your MacBook or iPhone without you realizing it. And therefore, they must be analyzed and quarantined.
An older version of this article was originally published on 07/03/2023.
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