this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2025
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How do I determine what a mystery dongle does? Edit: solved (infosec.pub)
submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by Gullible@sh.itjust.works to c/askelectronics@discuss.tchncs.de
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Got a used business laptop and found a recessed dongle in it. The original owner says they have no clue, that it’s been in there since they got it. There’s no way a dongle is keeping this thing running, is there? I’ve already swapped the OS, if that matters at all

Update: yubikey! Thank you all for the information, I’m definitely still learning

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[–] BuccaneerScientist@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Sound about right. A YubiKey will print a one-time password when touched, by default.

[–] hoppolito@mander.xyz 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Do you know if this functionality can be turned off? I've been stung by the 'gibberish' once or twice but never enough to dive into the docs for it :)

[–] zaphod@sopuli.xyz 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Yes, you can configure what happens when you touch the button.