Remember how in the floppy disk era you had to be careful of disks carrying viruses?  At a Black Hat conference earlier this year, it was proven that USB devices carry that same risk.  ANY USB device (keyboard, mouse, printer, thumb drive, etc) can have a virus, and can be infected to carry a virus.  Since the problem presently cannot be fixed, the initial discovery was kept secret to give manufacturers some time to find a solution.

No one has, and now the code has been released.  Any USB device (even new retail devices) can be a vector for malware, and simply wiping the contents of a thumb drive won't clean it.  The malware embeds itself in the firmware of the device.  That's why it will work against ANY USB device, not just thumb drives.

Source: http://www.wired.com/2014/10/code-published-for-unfixable-usb-attack/

I wonder if the same solution from the old floppy disk days will work?  An analogy of "boot sector protectors", that just occupied the space a virus would attach itself to.

Best explanation I've seen of this new USB threat:

Quoted Text

You've seen dippy Hollywood movies where a spy plugs in a USB key, an LED lights up and he announces that the system is hacked? Really exactly like that.

Source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8405378