Ever received USB drives from companies that are filled with information about the company, like photos, production information, videos, and etc.? You might be thinking that this is such a neat way to hand out information, but the next time you think about plugging in a free USB from someone you don’t know, think again.
It seems that the American Dental Association has recently sent out thousands of malware-infected USB devices to offices around the US. As you can see in the photo above, the drive in question is shaped to look like a card and contains updated dental procedure codes for dental offices to use in billing and insurance.
The issue was initially discovered by a user who when opening the drive, discovered a file trying to launch a website that is known for distributing malware. The malware on the site would have infected the system and allow the creators of the malware to gain full control of the system, and in turn it could have exposed billing details and other sensitive patient information.
It is unclear if any of the offices that received the malware-infected USBs have been infected already, but the ADA has since acknowledged the issue and have sent out notices to all dentists informing them about it. An investigation is currently underway but it has been suggested that chances are the malware was installed from one of the machines that loads the software onto the drives.