Considering the article goes so far as to claim that infected machines can still continue infecting others when they're unplugged from A/C, I'd argue that yes, you're absolutely right. This sounds like a "ghost story."
Edit: I should note that after about the first 2/3rds of the article, there is some effort made to explain this (and negates the entire first bit of the article), but there is much better information others have shared here regarding malware embedded in USB controllers. I still like jameshart's assertion that this is just an elaborate ghost story for Halloween.
Edit edit: The conveniently mention toward the latter part of the article that the machine unplugged from A/C was a laptop which was then running off battery. I'm growing more and more suspicious of the quality of this particular article.
Edit: I should note that after about the first 2/3rds of the article, there is some effort made to explain this (and negates the entire first bit of the article), but there is much better information others have shared here regarding malware embedded in USB controllers. I still like jameshart's assertion that this is just an elaborate ghost story for Halloween.
Edit edit: The conveniently mention toward the latter part of the article that the machine unplugged from A/C was a laptop which was then running off battery. I'm growing more and more suspicious of the quality of this particular article.