I've never tried it now that I think about it, but how standardized is the USB-C cable drain? I would assume that, with perhaps some minimal difference for length, all normal in-spec cables would be pretty similar, but I don't actually know that and would be curious if anyone has checked a few.
If there is a standard baseline though then the OP's advice doesn't meaningfully change, it just becomes "If the cable draws current over the baseline with nothing attached, dissect it" rather then "if it draws any at all". Any spy chip would still have to be on top of whatever else is needed to make the cable work at all, so it's not really a different problem unless standard cables have enough delta between them to hide a spy chip drain in. And even if that's true between manufacturers, if within a single manufacturer cables were pretty steady that might merely become a reason to source exclusively from one/a few reliable ones that stable baseline draws can be established for?
NullPrefix|6 years ago
antsar|6 years ago
xoa|6 years ago
If there is a standard baseline though then the OP's advice doesn't meaningfully change, it just becomes "If the cable draws current over the baseline with nothing attached, dissect it" rather then "if it draws any at all". Any spy chip would still have to be on top of whatever else is needed to make the cable work at all, so it's not really a different problem unless standard cables have enough delta between them to hide a spy chip drain in. And even if that's true between manufacturers, if within a single manufacturer cables were pretty steady that might merely become a reason to source exclusively from one/a few reliable ones that stable baseline draws can be established for?