'AITA if my USB killer fried my friend’s PC when she snooped?'
"AITA if my USB killer fried my friend’s PC when she snooped?"
I am 20F, my friend is 21F. I always carry a USB killer in my backpack. It looks like any other thumb drive except I stuck a tiny devil face sticker on it so I know it’s the dangerous one.
I keep it on me because I still live at home and my parents are super nosy; if I ever left it on my desk they’d definitely pick it up and plug it into their laptop to “see what it is.” Yesterday I had to leave campus in a rush and asked my friend to watch my bag for a bit.
I ended up not having time to come back so I just texted her to take it home and I’d grab it today. She said cool. She gets home, admits she got curious and started looking through my stuff, finds the devil sticker USB, thinks it’s my normal drive, plugs it into her gaming PC to see what files I have.
Computer instantly dies, mobo [motherboard] and PSU completely gone. Now she’s mad at me, saying I’m reckless for carrying something like that and I need to buy her a whole new setup, even though she knows she shouldn’t have been digging around in my bag in the first place. I feel bad her PC is dead but come on, don’t snoop and don’t plug random drives into your computer. AITA?
Here's what people had to say to OP:
KiwiAtaahua said:
Your last line covers it. She was a bad friend to look through your bag, and a bad friend to use something of yours without asking. She's learned an expensive and lifelong lesson: don't be a dick to your friends AND don't plug unknown USBs into your computer without first checking with a trusted source about what's on it. NTA.
NTA but, and I think a lot of us will have the same question. Why in gods name do you wander around with a USB that destroys computers? Are you a spy? Please spill!
Dreaksfrendford OP:
My boyfriend is an investigative journalist and he carries them, I took one from him, for no specific reason. They are also used to test device safety, or to kill your own device quickly in emergency situations.
Thats actually a really good reason to carry a kill drive, especially given the current state of the world. Journalists are being targeted all over the place.
dradaeus
For reference this kills the device but doesn’t wipe any information on them.
Dreaksfrendford OP:
He carries a whole bunch of weird devices. I'm sure he has one that wipes out all the data.
ValNotThatVal
NTA in this specific incident. Your 'friend' is definitely an a-hole. FAFO. She started digging through your bag, then stole your property with the intent to violate your privacy. You were not 'reckless', what you did there was quite intentional, with a clear message.
Your motives for carrying it are pretty suspect tbh. If you left that out with the purpose of baiting your parents to snoop and destroy their equipment, that is pretty messed up.
But that's not what happened here. It was IN YOUR BAG. She had to dig through your bag, take your property, and then violate your privacy in order to end up destroying her computer. This is on her.
Dreaksfrendford OP:
No I meant I keep it with me because I don't want my parents to accidentally use it thinking it's a flash drive. Something they'd likely do if they find in my room
Rolling_Beardo
But why do you have it in the first place seems to be what they’re asking.
Dreaksfrendford OP:
To immediately kill self owned devices in emergency situations. To test if a device has proper safety against them. Although, I had it with me for no specific reason. Just cos my boyfriend, an investigative journalist, has loads of those, I picked one from the ones he has.
natoned1 said:
Never ever install media of unknown content is your system. Don’t snoop in other peoples stuff. Simple rules. Violate them and bad things tend to occur.
I say NTA. There is a rule in PC security that says never plug in an unknown USB drive.
arachnebleu7 said:
This is known as FAFO. She snooped, she stole, she paid the price. Too bad, so sad for her.
RazzmatazzUnique
NTA, but I don’t understand the part about the USB and your parents. Are you intending to kill your parents' computers?
Dreaksfrendford OP:
No I carry it with me cos they can use it. I.e. to prevent them from accidentally or intentionally using it, I keep it in my bag
parodytx said:
NTA. She acted irresponsibly and should not have snooped. BUT, depending on where you live, however, merely possessing such a device could get you charged with criminal intent and if they push it could sue you and win, because the only purpose of such a device is to cause damage.
Similar to having poisoned your food at work ("they shouldn't have eaten it") or digging a booby trap outside your bedroom ("they shouldn't have been trespassing") - neither argument flies in court and you WOULD be held liable for damages or worse.
Appropriate-Value54 said:
NTA. I truly can’t imagine disrespecting a friend by invading their privacy like that. And then to have the audacity to be upset with you for what you happened to be carrying? She should’ve been apologizing for what she did and been worried about your reaction to catching her, not blaming you for what happened to her computer. Yikes, NTA but I’d recommend you rethink the friendship unfortunately.
Mr_Flibbles_ESQ said:
NTA - She shouldn't have gone through your stuff, and she definitely shouldn't have taken it as far as plugging in a USB drive to see what else they can find. Interesting to see so many people saying you shouldn't have it, or why you have it - Which is frankly irrelevant to anything else and is completely your own business.