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If I plug in a supposedly blank USB flash disk into my Sierra Mac computer and cd ~/Volumes/Untitled and execute ls -al will the output definitely display any and all files that could possibly exist on the device.

Is this a definitive test of whether or not a USB device is clean of any malicious applications or files?

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Is this a definitive test of whether or not a USB device is clean of any malicious applications or files?

So your question is "Is ls -al equivalent to the best virus scanner?". No, no it is not.

Malware authors are a clever bunch, there is no such thing as a definitive test for malware.

As for whether ls -al even lists "any and all files that could possibly exist on the device", well it depends on your definition of "all files that could possibly exist". If you include filesystem abuses so that the file appears on custom drivers, but just looks like uninitialized memory to stock drivers, then no, ls -al will not list them.

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in ls -al : -a stands for "all" i.e including hidden files too & -l stands for long listing format

this command shows all files including any malicious file of hidden

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  • In the context of ls, "hidden" just means "filename starts with a dot". In the context of malware, "hidden" can mean "embedded inside a jpg", or "invisible to the filesystem". Not the same thing.
    – Mike Ounsworth
    Commented Aug 17, 2017 at 0:00

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