Over the past few years, some of the world’s most dangerous and daring computer viruses have originated on infected USB drives. One even got into the computers inside Iran’s largest nuclear power plant, even though it’s not connected to any outside network. See, what makes flash drives such an ideal host is that most people don’t think twice about sticking one in their computer.

Indeed, if you found a flash drive lying outside your office, wouldn’t you open it up to try to see who it belonged to? But just viewing one folder on the drive is all it takes for a new breed of malware to infect your computer.

A security firm advises that you shouldn’t trade flash drives with other people, stick an unknown one in your computer, or pick one up off the ground and load it on your computer in to peer inside its contents.

Don’t Stick It In [Slate] (Thanks to Wayne!)

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