If you plug a USB drive into Microsoft Windows, in many cases it will try to do things “for you” with the drive. Not a great idea. There could be malware lurking on that USB drive.
There are a couple of things you can do to help mitigate the issue. These tips assume Windows 11.
Turn off Autoplay
- Open Settings. Press Windows + I to open the Settings app.
- Go to Bluetooth & devices. In the left sidebar, click on “Bluetooth & devices.”
- Select Autoplay. Scroll down and click on “Autoplay.”
- Turn Off Autoplay. You’ll see a toggle switch labeled “Use Autoplay for all media and devices.” Turn this off.
This will turn it off completely. You can, if you want, make individual settings for different types of devices.
Deny Execute Access (Pro or Enterprise versions of Windows 11)
- Open Group Policy Editor. Press Windows + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.
- Navigate to the Removable Storage Access Policies. Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Removable Storage Access.
- Modify Policies. You can enable the policy “Removable Disks: Deny execute access” to prevent execution from removable drives.
- Apply and Reboot.
Note, there are some cases where you may want to execute scripts or programs from a removable drive. If that’s the case, you may not want to do this, or make a note of it so you can re-enable if needed.
why the fuck did they re-enable autoplay? it was a terrible idea when they did it years ago and they quickly disabled it.
It’s honestly impressive how we went from “only nerds know tech” in gen x to “everyone knows tech” in millennials to “only nerds know tech” in gen z.
Circle of tech life? It means whatever the next gen is will be tech pros again or maybe amish
on this point…
I heard from someone in my local area that it’s getting to the point where people don’t even know how to use a mouse and keyboard.
this is the iPad generation…
There’s been several articles in the past 10 years pointing out that kids going for IT and CompSci degrees in college/uni are often not aware of file structures. The thought is that they are so used to just saving something on a mobile device, and when they want to use/send/view it, the apps just comb the whole system and present files that fit the required extension formats.
I just checked a freshly installed Windows 11 and the autoplay is off by default.
So to follow up on the point you are trying to make: People are illiterate because they react loudly without checking what they react about. It’s enough for them to get a few online upvotes in a world where they don’t matter otherwise.
I just checked a freshly installed Windows 11 and the autoplay is off by default.
So to follow up on the value of your question: People react loudly without checking what they react about. It’s enough for them to get a few online upvotes in a world where they don’t matter otherwise.
You are remembering that the executable features of autorun.inf is disabled, which is still true. Autoplay (if enabled) as it exists currently only applies for discovered media file types and makes your default configured media player responsible for handling them. It would not be possible to execute arbitrary tasks unless you had an ACE exploit for the installed media player.
Uhhh… Shouldn’t you just not plug random shit into your computer?
Why the fuck is the non execute setting, a principal safety feature, restricted to the pro and ent versions!?
Fuck you Microsoft.
There is also a registry hack for this but I have not looked into it or tested it. (And I agree with your sentiments re: Microsoft.)
It’s even worse than that. If you plug a USB device into a computer, it can pretend to be a keyboard and mouse, and do malicious things that way.
Do not plug any random device into your hardware.
