A computer might be infected with a virus, or completely disable your PC if there are already enough examples in history. The Ecuadorian journalist chose not to ignore the possibility, but rather suffered physical injuries.
Lenin Artieda, a staff member of the Guayaquil TV company, placed the flash drive into his computer, after which the drive exploded. According to authorities, the journalist suffered minor injuries to his hands and face, but no one else was hurt. The explosive was contained in 1 cm long capsules, which saved Artieda from further damage.
Fundamedios, an Ecuadorian non-profit media rights organization, has announced that USB sticks had been sent to two additional journalists in Guayaquil and two more in Quito, the state's capital.
On March 15, Alvaro Rosero of EXA FM received an envelope with a flash drive. The producer used an adapter cable to connect the drive to his computer. The flash drive did not explode because of a lack of power in the adapter.
If Milton Perez of the Teleamazonas office in Quito had connected the flash drive correctly to his computer, the explosion might have been prevented. A police intercepted a drive addressed to Mauricio Ayora of TC Televisión in the same city.
Juana Zapata, Ecuador's interior minister, confirmed that the same USB device was used in all five cases in an attempt to silence journalists. Fundamedios attempted to uncover the terrorists' motives, but information on the case is limited due to the Ecuadorian authorities' ongoing investigation into the terrorist attack. Human rights activists claim that previous communications contained political messages.
Ecuador has seen other instances of violence against journalists, including the RTS explosion and the 2020 Teleamazonas explosion. The country is experiencing a spike in crime linked to drug cartels.
We strongly caution against encountering unfamiliar items, whether they are delivered via mail or lying on the street in the context of Russian military aggression against Ukraine. As practice demonstrate, an unverified flash drive can damage not only data on a PC.
