ByteBait USB: a robust simulation toolkit for badUSB phishing campaign
Abstract Phishing, a prevalent cybercrime using social engineering, threatens individuals and enterprises despite existing protections. This paper addresses BadUSB devices in phishing campaigns, which exploit inherent trust in USB devices to execute malicious actions like keystroke injection. These...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Journal of King Saud University: Computer and Information Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s44443-025-00067-6 |
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| _version_ | 1849389456451174400 |
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| author | Wenhao Li Selvakumar Manickam Yung-Wey Chong Yongqing He Ho Yean Li Binyong Li |
| author_facet | Wenhao Li Selvakumar Manickam Yung-Wey Chong Yongqing He Ho Yean Li Binyong Li |
| author_sort | Wenhao Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Phishing, a prevalent cybercrime using social engineering, threatens individuals and enterprises despite existing protections. This paper addresses BadUSB devices in phishing campaigns, which exploit inherent trust in USB devices to execute malicious actions like keystroke injection. These attacks are particularly dangerous as their malicious code resides in firmware, evading traditional antivirus solutions. While enterprises have adopted phishing awareness training, there remains a significant gap in simulated BadUSB phishing campaigns. Our study employs a multifaceted approach starting with a survey of public awareness and behaviors regarding BadUSB threats. We examine the lifecycle of simulated BadUSB phishing campaigns in enterprise environments, develop a detailed threat model, and propose solutions through ByteBait USB, a comprehensive simulation toolkit. This toolkit features advanced capabilities including long-range communication, motion detection, trajectory tracking, and efficient power management, creating a realistic simulation environment. To our knowledge, this represents one of the first efforts to develop a BadUSB simulation toolkit, complementing existing resources for simulating phishing emails and websites. The proposed toolkit has been validated through real-world simulations, demonstrating its effectiveness in enhancing security awareness against sophisticated USB-based threats. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ca18f67c2ca0447fa98ea5ae5e4470d7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1319-1578 2213-1248 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of King Saud University: Computer and Information Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-ca18f67c2ca0447fa98ea5ae5e4470d72025-08-20T03:41:57ZengSpringerJournal of King Saud University: Computer and Information Sciences1319-15782213-12482025-07-0137514010.1007/s44443-025-00067-6ByteBait USB: a robust simulation toolkit for badUSB phishing campaignWenhao Li0Selvakumar Manickam1Yung-Wey Chong2Yongqing He3Ho Yean Li4Binyong Li5Cybersecurity Research Centre, Universiti Sains MalaysiaCybersecurity Research Centre, Universiti Sains MalaysiaSchool of Computer Sciences, Universiti Sains MalaysiaMeetSec Technology Co., LtdFaculty of Information and Science Technology, Multimedia UniversitySchool of Cybersecurity, Chengdu University of Information TechnologyAbstract Phishing, a prevalent cybercrime using social engineering, threatens individuals and enterprises despite existing protections. This paper addresses BadUSB devices in phishing campaigns, which exploit inherent trust in USB devices to execute malicious actions like keystroke injection. These attacks are particularly dangerous as their malicious code resides in firmware, evading traditional antivirus solutions. While enterprises have adopted phishing awareness training, there remains a significant gap in simulated BadUSB phishing campaigns. Our study employs a multifaceted approach starting with a survey of public awareness and behaviors regarding BadUSB threats. We examine the lifecycle of simulated BadUSB phishing campaigns in enterprise environments, develop a detailed threat model, and propose solutions through ByteBait USB, a comprehensive simulation toolkit. This toolkit features advanced capabilities including long-range communication, motion detection, trajectory tracking, and efficient power management, creating a realistic simulation environment. To our knowledge, this represents one of the first efforts to develop a BadUSB simulation toolkit, complementing existing resources for simulating phishing emails and websites. The proposed toolkit has been validated through real-world simulations, demonstrating its effectiveness in enhancing security awareness against sophisticated USB-based threats.https://doi.org/10.1007/s44443-025-00067-6BadUSBHID attackSimulated phishing attackAnti-phishingPhishing awarenessSecurity education |
| spellingShingle | Wenhao Li Selvakumar Manickam Yung-Wey Chong Yongqing He Ho Yean Li Binyong Li ByteBait USB: a robust simulation toolkit for badUSB phishing campaign Journal of King Saud University: Computer and Information Sciences BadUSB HID attack Simulated phishing attack Anti-phishing Phishing awareness Security education |
| title | ByteBait USB: a robust simulation toolkit for badUSB phishing campaign |
| title_full | ByteBait USB: a robust simulation toolkit for badUSB phishing campaign |
| title_fullStr | ByteBait USB: a robust simulation toolkit for badUSB phishing campaign |
| title_full_unstemmed | ByteBait USB: a robust simulation toolkit for badUSB phishing campaign |
| title_short | ByteBait USB: a robust simulation toolkit for badUSB phishing campaign |
| title_sort | bytebait usb a robust simulation toolkit for badusb phishing campaign |
| topic | BadUSB HID attack Simulated phishing attack Anti-phishing Phishing awareness Security education |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1007/s44443-025-00067-6 |
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