That's right! Sheer caution must be taken if you value your PC. But what happens if after you have exerted caution, yet still find your PC hacked one way or the other, probably through a close friend, family or colleague whom you trust and know well enough, but unknown to him/her, his/her USB flash drive is contaminated and contains malware or probably you were out in the garden working, or you went to the bathroom to ease out or you were so preoccupied with some calculations and innocently that close trusted friend/family/colleague of yours, inserts a contaminated USB drive into your PC?
Serious situation right?
Well, no need to worry, we've got you covered! The solution to that kind of situation is as simple as to DISABLE USB STORAGE DEVICE.
Disabling USB ports on your PC is the best way to protect against any form of unauthorized access of viruses, malware, hackers, and innocent third parties.
USB ports can be disabled by editing Windows Registry, or by deleting USB extensions in Mac OS X. Most big offices, cyber cafes and institutions keep disable Mass storage device to protect Important data.
When you disable the USB Storage like, USB Flash Drive, Memory Card, CD/DVD, it does not affect the USB Port, so your Keyboard and Mouse will still function properly.
How does this work?
For Windows users follow the below steps and you are through:-
1. Log into your computer as the Administrator.
2. Press the Windows key + R. This opens the Run command line in all versions of Windows or if you can not find Run, just type "Run" in the search box.
3. Type “regedit,” then press Enter. This then opens Windows Registry Editor.
4. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\USBSTOR.
5. Right-Click on Start and then Click on Modify.
6. Change the value in the data box from “3” to “4.” This disables your computer’s USB ports.
7. Click on OK.
8. Close Windows Registry Editor and refresh your desktop.
9. To re-enable access to your USB ports, repeat the steps and change the value in the data box from “4” to “3”.
For Mac OS X:-
1. Log into your computer as the administrator.
2. Click on “Go” and select “Go To Folder.”
3. Type “/System/Library/Extensions” into the dialog box, then click “Go.” This opens the Extensions folder, where data for your USB ports are saved.
4. Locate the below two files: “IOUSBMassStorageClass.kext” and “IOFireWireSerialBusProtocolTransport.kext.” These files control USB mass storage only, and do not affect the USB ports for your keyboard or monitor.
5. Move both files to the Trash.
6. Right-click on Trash and select “Empty Trash"
7. Reboot your computer. Your system’s USB ports will now be disabled.
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