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USB-IF Fights Malware and Bad Chargers with Type-C Authentication Spec


Till now, adoption of reversible and versatile USB Type-C connector was going quite well. It is barely universal, however it is appearing in rising number of laptops and smartphones, and the cables as well as other accessories supporting it is gradually growing in number. One of the issues that have risen as port has become popular is non-compliant wires and power connectors, accessories that seem as though they should work, yet may really finish off frying the device they are plugged into.

It has been announced at the Intel Developer Forum in Shenzhen, China, that USB-IF is attempting to solve one of these problems with USB Type-C Authentication specification. Once host device supporting the specification is connected to a cable, power adapter, or accessory also supporting the specification, then host device could verify the capabilities of the accessories, and whether the accessory was fully USB-IF certified. This type of information is transferred to the host via 128-bit encryption prior to establishment of power connection or an actual data, and moreover specification is intended to work even when your cable and charger are not providing data connection and just giving power.

The USB Implementers Forum or USB-IF today announced the USB Type-C authentication specification at the Intel Developer Forum in Shenzhen, China, in trying to stop this situation from being worse.

We have as of now seen a few companies producing USB Type-C chargers, which do not work universally among all the USB Type-C devices, as defined in this PC World article from late 2015. An additional specification which makes verification of chargers capabilities easier should expectantly prevent this kind of thing to happen. Arstechnica.com posted on 13th April, 2016, stating that the USB-IF additionally keeps on encouraging accessory makers and OEMs to use different logos of USB to clarify devices capabilities, though the usage of those logos on actual real-world devices is hit-or-miss as of right now.

Hardware without the skill to receive firmware and software updates will require to be replaced completely, though USB-IF claims that the support for these new specifications can be issued in these types of updates at the discretion of OEMs.

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