Buying a cable or a USB Type-C charger can be risky because there are poor quality products that do not meet the standards. This was found Benson Leung Google engineer testing cables to denounce the black sheep, which has even led to the destruction of the USB controller of its Chromebook Pixel.
To fight against this scourge, the Amazon retail site attempted to remove bad cables but some can get through the cracks. This is why the USB 3.0 Promoter Group (comprising HP, Intel, Microsoft, Renesas Electronics, STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments) has announced a radical solution at the IDF conference in 2016 in Shenzhen: an authentication system with encryption 128-bit.
This authentication will concern devices, chargers, accessories and cables that have been certified to ensure they meet the standards. For example, a computer Chromebook Pixel will establish the protocol with a USB charger Type-C before accepting that power will be established. For devices, the addition of the protocol could be implemented through a simple update of the firmware and software.
The authentication also helps to fight against hackers
In addition to the fight against poor quality products, authentication would also serve to fight against hackers who may also introduce malware on USB devices. Note that the USB Power Delivery specification, regarding the supply of equipment (up to 100 W), has just gone from version 2.0 to version 3.0 to include the authentication protocol.
If the idea is pretty good, many questions remain. No date for implementation has not been specified for this protocol, or whether it will be possible for the user to disable it to use old cables. Finally, we do not know how authentication will happen with charger and cable: is it that only the charger will be concerned or is it that authentication will be performed on the two objects? Questions will be answered during the arrival of the first compatible devices
Sources:. ArsTechnica, The Verge
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