The journalist inserted an unknown USB drive sent to him by mail – it exploded in his face

It’s no secret that flash drives, no matter how small and unremarkable they may look, can turn into agents of chaos. Over the years, we have seen them used to infiltrate an Iranian nuclear facility, infect critical control systems at US power plants, become programmable, undetected attack platforms, and destroy connected computers with an unexpected 220-volt surge. While these are just a few examples, they should be enough to prevent a mysterious, unsolicited USB stick sent to them by mail from being inserted into a computer. Unfortunately, one Ecuadorian journalist did not receive these notes.

As Agence France-Presse reported (via CBS News) on Tuesday, five Ecuadorian journalists received USB sticks from Kimsaloma in the mail. Each of the flash drives was supposed to explode when activated.

After receiving the disk, Lenin Artieda from the Ecuavisa TV station in Guayaquil inserted it into his computer, after which it exploded. According to a police officer who spoke to AFP, the journalist suffered minor injuries to his hands and face, but no one else was hurt.

According to police spokesman Xavier Chango, the flash drive that exploded contained a 5-volt explosive charge and was believed to have used RDX. Also known as T4, according to EPA (PDF), the military, including the US, uses RDX, which “can be used alone as a base charge for detonators or mixed with other explosives such as TNT.”Chango said it comes in about 1 cm capsules, but only half of them were activated in the drive that Artied connected, which likely saved him from some harm.

On Monday, Fundamedios, an Ecuadorian non-profit media rights organization, released a statement about incidents in which letters with USB sticks were sent to two more journalists in Guayaquil and two journalists in the Ecuadorian capital.

Fundamedios said that Alvaro Rosero, who works for radio station EXA FM, also received an envelope with a flash drive on March 15. He gave it to the producer, who used an adapter cable to connect it to his computer. However, the radio station was lucky: the flash drive did not explode. Police determined the drive contained explosives but believe it did not explode because the adapter the manufacturer used did not have enough charge to activate it, Fundamedios said.

Another reporter attempted to access the unknown contents of the drive. According to Fundamedios, Milton Perez of the Teleamazonas office in Quito could set off the explosives on a USB drive if he connected it to a computer properly.

Police intercepted a fourth engine sent to Carlos Vera in Guayaquil and carried out a “controlled explosion”on one sent by Mauricio Ayore to TC Televisión, also in Guayaquil, reports the BBC .

What is driving these attacks?

Ecuadorian Interior Minister Juana Zapata confirmed that the same type of USB device was used in all five cases and said the incidents send “an absolutely clear signal to journalists to shut up,”according to AFP.

Fundamedios has attempted to shed light on the motive behind the disc explosion, but information appears to be limited as the Ecuadorian government’s investigation into the terrorist attack continues. The advocacy group said the drive that exploded was sent with a threatening letter to Artiede, while the letter accompanying the USB drive sent by TC Televisión contained a message against an unidentified political group.

The message accompanying the threatening message sent to Pérez in Quito included a message claiming, in part, that according to Google’s translation of the Fundamedios publication: “This information will expose the correísmo. If you think it’s helpful, we can come to an agreement and I’ll send you the second part. I communicate with you.”Correísmo is an Ecuadorian political movement named after former President Rafael Correa, who was President of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017.

In a statement quoted by the BBC, the Ecuadorian government said: “Any attempt to intimidate journalists and freedom of expression is a heinous act that must be punished to the fullest extent of justice.”

Publications covering the events note that Ecuador has seen a surge in crime over the past few years, which President Guillermo Lasso attributes to drug trafficking, but the true motives behind the recently shipped USB weapon are unknown.

The AFP agency noted other recent acts of violence around the Ecuadorian media, including a shooting on the RTS television channel, where the alleged shooter reportedly left behind a pamphlet signed by the Mexican cartel and threatening the director of the newspaper. Also last year, there was a bomb blast on Teleamazonas, which also received a RDX USB drive this month.

But no matter who is behind the dangerous attacks on journalists, these disturbing stories should serve as another reminder that – just as you should not click on random links sent to you in a message, open unknown attachments, or download suspicious files – you should not remain unknown. USB sticks, especially those randomly mailed to you, into whatever. In the case of some of these reporters, the thought of a hot scoop may have been tempting, but the greedy discovery of unverified devices or data often just blows your face.