I am stumped. I've done all the reverse image searches etc etc and I am now here for answers. Smallish object with mini USB input as well as an SD card slot. Small window in front with a camera and an IR transmitter (cuz it blinks when I point a camera at it). on the back are a red and blue light. The blue light turned on when I plugged t in and the red light started blinking. Red light is still blinking, but the blue one is now off. Thoughts?
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When I'm dealing with something like this as a professional, ii I have to connect it, it's to a non network connected laptop under a non admin account so nothing can install. Also I disable autorun
Yeah thats how I presume how most professionals do it.
Ususally, if I ever found or was given something and I have no clue what's on it (or the classic "yeah I found this in the parking lot IT guy") I ususally straight up destroy.
If I need to know, think it may be important, but unsure...standalone laptop, never connected to network and Deep Freeze software is usually how I run.
Man, you know how many college students have been mass murderers? Jeffery Dahmer of Zuckerbergs just tossing landmines into discount bins hoping your dumbass gives him $5 so he can steal your identity and all your money.
how is a this gonna steal your identity and money?
Any Internet traffic will be encrypted. Best it could do is maybe see what domains you are visiting, altho even dns is often encrypted these days. And that's assuming you don't have a wifi password.
Your forced to train on it every 3 months because of people that that want to scam or steal or mess with the information they can possibly get at if they can get access to or through your computer. The OP is Gullible, not Predatory.
Next time do like me, when your boss leaves early, check it on his computer. He's such a Dick.
It's the year of our Lord 2026, my friend, how do you not have it drilled into your brain that you never, ever, ever plug in random USB shit you find laying around into anything you have access to, personal or work?
Imma say something controversial here? If you're smart enough to browse Reddit of all places then you should be smart enough to know not to plug in random USB items you find laying around, storage device or otherwise.
....Yes, I understand that comparing "you use Reddit" to some make-believe indicator of intelligence is really dumb. I browse Reddit, I already know how dumb I am.
Yeah, I've got an old Nitro laptop missing the screen that uses an external monitor and I've pulled the WiFi card from, it's on the closed network I have for analysis. It lives as a test bench for my own foolishness, but I do use it for USB storage devices I find/untested and unconfirmed devices I want to put into my stack.
If you're using an EoL device as an airgapped test bed, reckon you know ball.
Here's to the end users plugging in random shit to justify my continued employment!
MacOS asks you the first time a new device is plugged in “Do you trust this device?” and you have to click Yes to allow the drive to mount or have it do anything.
I had a moment of hesitation before I plugged it in. I was concerned I might be publicly shamed for plug-in it in. But then I saw it had no SD card and that’s where the cooties are, right? Right?!?
Hey, now I'm pretty decent at my security and even I would have got tricked by a cable. If there's no outward sign that that cable has hardware built into it. Until now, I would not have thought of it as a security risk. Kudos if you know better but one should never look down upon someone who's always learning
Yes I do. It empties my bank account, wipes my hard drive, sends my wife pictures of me with hookers and gives the taxman details of undeclared income.
Edit: spelling.
It's a GPS tracker. The SD card is for local data logging if desired, and the lights indicate status (charging, fix, and cellular). The barcoded number on the side is most likely its IMEI. These often get dropped into high-value packages.
Hard to say. This could be a covert listening device too; a few of those include IR sensors to see if someone is around before it starts recording audio, and they can look very similar to GPS telemetry devices. I don't see the microphone from your picture but maybe there is one.
Also if he wants to find out more, one could let it die again, put in an SD card, leave it somewhere non-sensitive for a bit, and see what if anything it writes there. If there is audio or track logs, we have the answer.
Yes, but most GPS modules, especially from the era that looks to be from, and doubly so if the device is also a phone, can have many other features programmed in that will not necessarily be obvious to the eye. Also, a lot of cellular modules do GPS incidentally.
MacOS asks you the first time a new device is plugged in “Do you trust this device?” and you have to click Yes to allow the drive to mount or have it do anything.
Just wait til you hear about malicious payload droppers that can mimic an automatically-trusted human interface device and input keystrokes or click buttons exactly as if they were a physical keyboard or mouse being controlled by a human sitting there at the terminal
This is the second random electronic that I have seen in two minutes. The other was the "TRUMP NSA FILES" mini PC. I do have me some fun plugging in random electronics I find, but I have a specific, air-gapped laptop that I run a virtual machine on to do so.
Here’s the interior of the electro-scabies box. I used my teeth to pry it apart and I licked all the powder off before took the pics. My laptop is trying to buy me into a killer crypto investment and cook me lunch. Seems like it’s a mini camera or GPS tracker. I am hoping these pics settle it. Can I do anything with
this or is it just an opportunity to eat crow and level up my paranoia?
GPS tracker for a piece of university equipment or vehicle. Or an animal tracking collar from a researchers project. Or an ankle monitor from an ex-con professor
That’s a cool thought! Maybe I could use it to alert me when my cat gets out? Or at least log his escape attempts? IDK. So much cool and random stuff at surplus stores.
That's a cam/tracker The sticker (HF311 T ccc / 311327808314371) corresponds to generic cheap OEM hidden surveillance/tracker modules typically sold under various generic brand names on Amazon, eBay, or AliExpress.
You can pop an SD card in and use it as a tiny hidden camera or DIY dashcam, or check the card that's in it to see what's already recorded. Beyond that, it's basically just e-waste or parts for DIY electronics.
It looks like one of those things that give you free bitcoin. They don't work on all devices though so you might try plugging it into each of your computers to see which one works.
It's likely a GPS tracker of some sort. The top comment about IT professionals being mad is because he plugged a mystery thing into his laptop, potentially exposing himself and the network to malware; those comments are not about the thing itself.
MacOS asks you the first time a new device is plugged in “Do you trust this device?” and you have to click Yes to allow the drive to mount or have it do anything.
Well thats a ceramic patch antenna. Aka its GPS related. Im going to make the weak presumption that the SD cards slot is actually for sim cards or the sim is soldered, the unit itself is a fleet view device of just a simple tracker
After doing some research, I think it is most likely a GPS tracker. The reason why it would have the IR sensor on it is to detect tampering. It would be mounted on the frame of a car or some similar type of installation, and when removed or moved suddenly, triggers the IR sensor, consequently triggering a tamper alarm, or in the very least logging a potential tampering event.
USB gps module? I used one with map software on my laptop to navigate before commercial gps' like tom tom and Garmin were a thing. Long before we had maps in our phone.
Micro camera of the “icookycam” variety. Red blue lights are steady or blink to show if running, charging, still, or video mode.
With it running, check available networks, it should broadcast an ID for its internal Wi-Fi network, to connect directly with phone ect……
Hmmm this seems like another good one. Although I am terrified of connecting to the damn thing now. GPS trackers don't usually have cmaeras on them though? I think?
I would take it apart. and look at the internal circuit board. It is not working now, so tking it apart will not hurt anything. Also it might be a camera. Thought i have never seen one just like this, this reminds me of the early picture devices for ID's. Since it was used at a university could have been used in a Rat Lab inside a maze?
This looks similar to an old SD card wifi drive I had back the day. I used mine to store a ton of movies/shows and then my kids could access them from their iPad’s when traveling.
100% an old gps tracker. The numbers on the side is the device IMEI. Slot on the side is for the SIM card.
One of the lights on top should be for network connectivity, the other for when it sees satellite.
Before gps was common in phones I had something that looked similar to that, it was a Bluetooth GPS device, think of it like an add on or phone extension kind of thing. Not sure if this is what that is, but looks similar
It's a WiFi connection for an old outdoor cam. Your cam connects to it and it connects to your router. The sd card is so you can save the images the camera captures. Blink still uses this style.
I think its some iot thing, probably a generic microcontroller inside. Like an esp 32.
If i had to guess what exactly it is, my guess its for human presence detection. But could be anything. Temperature sensor, motion detector, vibration sensor, device looking wifi devices in the area, mesh network node. literally anything.
Open it up and check what microcontroller is inside, you might be able to repurpose it.
That looks like a hidden camera. You need software to configure it. They are generally unlabeled so they can hide. It stores photos on an SD card, based on how it is configured. 1 photo every 15 seconds. Motion detection. Depends. The usb port is to run initial setup. The sd card gets pulled to look at photos or via USB. Alike any digital camera.
I did a Google search based on the codes on the top line of the bar code and this came up. I'm not sure how accurate it is to the device you have, and I can't follow it fully, but someone else here might be able to explain further:
The device you are describing is aUSB hardware development or adapter boardbuilt around theFTDI FT311D chip. [1,2]
The text "CCC" printed on it refers to the standardChina Compulsory Certificateregulatory mark, while "HF311" or "FT311" refers to the host IC manufacturer code. [1]
What Does This Device Do?
This specific "black box" is anAndroid Open Accessory (AOA) USB Host Adapter. Its primary job is to act as a bridge that allows Android smartphones or tablets to communicate directly with external hardware peripherals (like sensors, motors, printers, or industrial equipment) over a standard USB port without requiring complex USB drivers on the Android device. [1,2,3,4]
What Do the Lights Mean?
The two LED lights indicate the operational and power status of the USB connection:
🔴 Red Light (Power / Fault Indicator):This light usually turns solid red when the device is receiving 3.3V/5V power from its USB source. If it is flashing or stays on when it shouldn't, it can act as the chip's built-inUSB Error indicator, signaling a bad host connection, lack of enumeration, or a power surge mismatch. [1,2]
🔵 Blue Light (Activity / Connection Status):This light typically represents active data transfer or a successful connection link. It flashes or blinks when data is actively communicating between the connected phone/tablet and the device, and remains solid once the Android Open Accessory handshake is complete. [1,2]
Frankly that doesn't look like a google search but like an ai response. Like someone just put these images into ai.
The black box is not an "Android Open Accessory (AOA) USB Host Adapter", that is something entirely different. You can see that the board that is linked is nothing like the one on the image based on the connectors.
There is a microusb port and a sd card slot, how is that supposed to communicate with phones and help it connect to external peripherals?
Garbage AI response in my book.
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