USB types: the final list to know them all

“Pen drive”, “memory stick”, for those less attentive: “VHS”… We have given many names to what we actually meant by USB. But you have to know that the term goes a little beyond that gadget of four or eight gigabytes that we use for so many things. In fact, there are several USB types, and today we will delve into getting to know them.

USB Types: What is a USB?

First we should make clear that, as many suspected but few dared to inquire, the acronym USB is derived from the corresponding words: Universal Serial Bus. USB is a connection protocol that allows us to connect several peripheral devices to an electronic device to achieve an exchange of data. It can also be useful to carry out some operations or charge the battery of our devices. It is, then, like a port that works as a connection socket between different devices.

The range of devices that we can interconnect to a computer thanks to USB is quite wide. We just have to think a bit so that they all come to our heads immediately. Mouses, keyboards, video and photo cameras, smartphones, USB memories, music players, webcams, speakers, printers, recorders, external hard drives, PDA… There are countless examples.

We owe this protocol to the fruitful 1990s, a wonderful decade for Britpop and for technology. It was seven large technology corporations (Intel, IBM, Northern Telecom, Compaq, Microsoft, NEC and Digital Equipment Corporation) who joined hands to reach an agreement on the peripheral connection standard for a computer. The idea was good for everyone, and although they started with a first model, USB 1.0, different from the current ones, everything was just a matter of evolution.

USB Types: Standards

USB devices are classified into four types based on their data transfer speed: Low Speed (1.0), Full Speed (1.1), High Speed (2.0) and Super High Speed (3.0).

• USB 1.0. It was the one that appeared in the mid-nineties. The maximum speed at which information could be transferred was 1.5 Mbps. Well, it could be used for connecting devices like the mouse and keyboard for example.
• USB 1.1. The transfer rate increased to 12 Mbps.
• USB 2.0. It is undoubtedly the most widespread standard and sends data at a speed of 480 Mbps, although its actual rate is 280 Mbps. In the cable you may find four lines: two for data transfer and two for power.
• USB 3.0. We can consider it about ten times faster than 2.0. It reaches speeds of 4.8 Gbps. The best thing is that it is still compatible with the previous ones and on top of that, it includes five additional contacts. At present, it coexists with 2.0. in perfect harmony.
• USB 3.1 It is the last of the standards. In fact it emerged just a few years ago. It reaches a data transfer speed of 10 Gbps. As an incentive, it comes with a new type of connector, connector C.

USB Types: Types of connectors

Now we go to the shapes of USB, which is why we are more familiar with them.

Type A. It is the one that most users will recognize. That flattened rectangle in which we can see internal connections. The male connector is at the end of the cables, while the female is the port itself.

Type B. The ports and connectors belonging to this type are just as recognizable by users, but somewhat smaller and wider than those of type A. As a general rule, we can find them in devices such as printers.

Type C. The Type-C connector has appeared the same as USB 3.1 and the distinguishing feature is that it is reversible. That’s right, no matter which side you insert, it works both ways.

MiniUSB. You may find two different versions of this one, made by 5 or 8 pins. We can see them in cameras, external hard drives, music players and a few other trinkets.

MicroUSB. The microUSB is the smallest and thinnest of all. It is quite flat and was conceived to connect to our smartphones. With them we can transfer information and charge batteries, so we also know it very well.

USB Types: Mistaking them with USB Memory

As we have seen, the concept of USB refers to the connection port. However, the term “USB” has also been extended to refer to pen drives. Pen drives are enabled with a memory that works as a place for storing and transporting data. It’s the rightful replacement for floppy disks and CDs (who doesn’t have one, for God’s sake?!), with different capacities ranging from 1GB to 1TB. Simply because the pen drive connects through USB, they have ended up calling it that. To shorten it. We are that practical and love saving that much.

Once you just got into the technological ins and outs, are you hungry for more? Would you like to go even further in the world of technology? What about spending a couple of minutes to find out what computing system monitoring is and why it is also very important?

Monitoring systems are responsible for supervising technology (hardware, networks and communications, operating systems or applications, for example) in order to analyze its performance, and to detect and alert about possible errors. And this leads us to Pandora FMS, that wonderful tool thanks to which this blog is possible.

Pandora FMS is a flexible monitoring system, capable of monitoring devices, infrastructures, applications, services and business processes.

What is a hacker? More like Mr. Robot rather than Operation Swordfish

If we lived in a fair and more appealing world, children would not want to be Cristiano Ronaldo or PewDiePie (popular Swedish youtuber that if you have a certain age, or dignity, you won’t know about). Children would like to be someone with values, like Immanuel Kant, She-Ra or, of course, a high-level hacker who, from the sewers of a suburban pavilion, controls the world with his killer laptop and his hoodie.

We get the idea of Immanuel or She-Ra, but why do we keep that idea in our head that hackers are so cool? What is a hacker seen through the eyes of someone who knows what this world is all about? It is not that we have brought to the fore a real hacker to solve it -authorities stay calm-, but we have brought Kevin Rojas, a project consultant at Pandora FMS and a renowned technologist and nerd of these things.

What is actually a hacker?

A hacker is a person who knows a lot about computing (security, networks, programming) and uses his knowledge to detect security flaws in the computer systems of companies or organizations.

What exactly do they do?

There are different types of hackers depending on what they do and how they do it, although it could be simplified into “good hackers” and “bad hackers”. The “good guys” (ethical hackers or “white hats”) are usually hired by companies to help them improve the system security by plugging holes and fixing bugs, and the “bad guys” (“black hats”) take advantage of those holes and mistakes for personal profit. Then there are all sorts of intermediate points, such as “gray hats”, who look for faults in business systems… to attempt to be hired to help them solve them.

Why do you think they are so romanticized by movies?

I guess because of the growing importance of computing and how “appealing” it sounds to be able to break into any kind of security. In the end, a hacker is someone who gets away with anything by being “more resourceful.” Who doesn’t like big hit movies?

In addition, a hacker does not obey to any physical pattern: it does not matter whether a person is tall or short, fat or skinny, it does not matter if that person is extroverted or what his economic level is. Anyone with enough wit (and knowledge) could be a hacker… and it’s no small feat.

What things do they usually do?

A real hacker could spend a lot of time studying (really, a lot). They have to know how things work, how elements interact, what known errors different technologies have, what the most effective security policies are and what the most common errors that users make are (which, by the way, are usually the chain’s weakest link: Have you seen those people who write down the password of their user in a post-it stuck to the screen?).

What they also usually do is a lot of programming. They create malware that takes advantage of system vulnerabilities, or that captures the keystrokes and mouse keys of careless users who install programs from suspicious web pages.

They do a lot of things, but there’s one I guarantee they don’t usually do: program “detailed 3D graphical interfaces with countdowns that light up the screen red while a submarine alarm beeps when the system recognizes a security breach and activates the countermeasures”. They don’t do that, even though you may have seen it in movies like Skyfall.

What do you think are the biggest differences between a real hacker and a cliché movie hacker?

Movie hackers often hacking into systems “just like that”. “Give me any computer with Internet access and in 10 minutes I’ll be connected to the Ministry of Defense network.” Well no, it is way more complex than that and it takes much more work behind. It’s more like Mr. Robot rather than Operation Swordfish. Not that much glamour and a lot of black screen with Linux terminals.

Could you name a real hacker who has gone down in computer history for his misdeeds? What did he do?

We do not have to go that far: Swedish Julian Assange, for example, went down in history in 2010 (and on the lists of most wanted people in the United States) for leaking documents from the American intelligence service regarding several incidents that took place in the war against Afghanistan.

Also the group Anonymous is currently quite a hot topic, which is not a single person but a large group of hackers, who have been leaking information since 2003 and from which the aforementioned series, Mr. Robot was inspired.

But not all famous hackers are bad guys: there are also famous ethical hackers like Chema Alonso, Telefónica’s current CDCO, one of the heads involved in managing of the 2017 Wannacry crisis, which, in case you don’t remember, was caused by a program that encrypted the code and data of infected computers, and asked for money to recover them. We need hackers to deal with hackers…

It is always a luxury to show off a new plugin in Pandora FMS, and for that reason we decided to devote an article in style to this Zendesk plugin on our blog. We will discuss what it is and how it can help us. Step by step, and concisely, so that no one gets lost along the way.

New Zendesk plugin added to Pandora FMS

But first: What is Zendesk?

Zendesk is a platform that channels the different communication modes between customer and company through a ticketing system.

A consolidated CRM company, devoted specifically to customer service, which designs software to improve relationships with users. Known for growing and innovating while building bonds and putting down roots in the communities where it lives. Its software, such as Pandora FMS, is very advanced and flexible, being able to adapt to the needs of any growing business.

Zendesk plugin

The plugin we are talking about today allows you to create, update and delete Zendesk tickets from the terminal, or from Pandora FMS console. For that, it makes use of the API of the service, which allows this system to be integrated into other platforms. Using a series of parameters, which would be the configurable options of the ticket, you may customize them as if you were working from Zendesk itself.

Zendesk Ticket System 

Zendesk has an integrated ticketing system, with which you may track support tickets, prioritize them and resolve them.

To the point: System configuration to use the plugin.

To make use of the plugin, enable access to the API, either using password or token.

Do it from the API section in the administrator menu.

Plugin parameters

The plugin makes use of a number of parameters when creating, updating or deleting tickets. With them you may configure the ticket according to your own criteria and needs. Just as you would do it from Zendesk’s own system.

Method

-m

With this option you will choose whether to create, update or delete the ticket. Use post to create it, put to update it, and delete to delete it.

IP or hostname

-i

With this alternative you may add the ip or name of your site. Sites usually have this format:

“https://<nombre>.zendesk.com

For example, mine is https://pandoraplugin.zendesk.com/. So, in this case, it should be pandoraplugin.

* If the full url is placed, it will not work.

User

-us

Your username. Usually the email with which you signed up in Zendesk. Use this option, combined with password or token, depending on how you have it enabled.

Password

-p

The password to authenticate with the API.

Token

-t

The token to authenticate to the API. If you use this option, you do not have to use the password option.

Ticket name

-tn

The name to be given to the ticket.

Ticket content

-tb

Ticket text. It should be enclosed in quotation marks.

Ticket ID

-id

Ticket ID. This option is for when you want to update or delete a ticket.

Ticket status

-ts

The status of the ticket, which can be new, open, hold, pending, solved or closed.

Priority

-tp

The priority of the ticket, which can be urgent, high, normal or low.

Type

-tt

The ticket type, which can be problem, incident, question or task.

Ticket creation

By running the plugin with the appropriate parameters you may create tickets:

python3 pandora_zendesk.py -m post -i <ip or site name> -us <user> -t <token> -tn <ticket name> -tb <ticket content> -tp <priority> -tt <type> -ts <ticket status>

Example

With the following command:

python3 pandora_zendesk.py -m post  -i pandoraplugin -us alejandro.sanchez@pandorafms.com -t <token> -tn "Problem with X" -tb "Something is giving some problem" -tp urgent -tt task -ts new

Interact with the API and the ticket will be created in your system.

Ticket update

You may update the tickets. The parameters are the same as in creation, but you have to add also the id, which will be the id of the ticket to be updated.

python3 pandora_zendesk.py -m put -i <ip or site name> -us <user> -t <token> -id <id ticket> -tn <ticket name> -tb <ticket content> -tp <priority> -tt <type> -ts <ticket status>

Example:

Let’s update the ticket we created in the example above, which has id #24

With the following command:

We see that the ticket has been updated and moved to pending tickets.

Ticket deletion

You may also delete a ticket by searching it by its ID with the following command:

python3 pandora_zendesk.py -m delete  -i <ip o host> -us <user> -t <token> -id <id ticket>

Use of the plugin from Pandora FMS console

You will be able to execute the plugin from the console, by means of an alert, which will make the use of the plugin easier.

To that end, go to the menu Commands in alerts:

Inside, create a new command that you will use to create alerts. To achieve this, run the plugin by entering its path and use a macro for each of the parameters used to create a ticket.

Add the description to each of these macros:

Once the command is saved, create an action to which assign this created command:

In each field below (the one of each macro where you have added a description when creating the command), add the value that you would have added to the parameter.

Once you have filled in all the fields of the necessary parameters, click Create.

Once done, go to List of alerts (don’t worry, once configured, you won’t have to repeat the process for each ticket you want to create), and create one.

Designate an agent and a module (it does not matter which one), and assign the action you just created. In the template, set the manual alert.

Once completed, click Add alert.

Now, to run the plugin, go to the view of the agent that you assigned to the alert and you will see it there. You may execute it by clicking the icon Force.

To establish different tickets, go to the action you created and change the values of the fields.

Just as we generated an alert for ticket creation, you may make another to update them and another to delete them to allow the use of the optimized plugin.

More integrations in ticketing services

Apart from Zendesk, there are more ticketing services that can be used from Pandora FMS by using a plugin. These are Redmine and Zammad, which have new plugins with which to create, update and delete tickets in these systems. And Jira and OTRS, which also have a plugin in the library that allows you to use these services easily from Pandora FMS.

Resources cursos:

Pandora FMS plugin library