In the past years, we have seen a growing problem of “juice jacking” at public charging stations for phones and other devices. Now the FBI considers the risk of juice jacking so high that it’s telling Americans to avoid using public chargers at airports, hotels and malls altogether.
Refreshingly, hackers install malicious code on public charging stations to read and steal data from mobile devices and monitor them. Although it is more likely to affect Android smartphones than iPhone and iPad, the latter are not invincible to such attacks.
Discovered by CNBCFBI shared the PSA on Twitter “Avoid using free charging stations at airports, hotels or shopping centers.”
How to prevent juice jacking
As we’ve said in the past, the FBI highlights that the safest course of action is to use your own charger and wall outlet instead of a public charging bar (which includes its own cables).
Another easy option is a Small battery Or Battery case Having it with you means you don’t have to worry about plugging into outlets while avoiding public chargers.
For iPhone and iPad, one of the security measures that can prevent juice jacking is “Trust this computer?” Ask when an external device, or in this case malicious code, tries to access data. However, some unsuspecting users may tap “Trust”.
And we’ve seen malicious cables like the $180 O.MG Elite that can compromise iPhone, Mac, Android, and PC. So even Apple users are safe to stay away from public chargers.
The FBI shares several more recommendations “Be careful when connecting” Websites such as avoiding sensitive transactions on public Wi-Fi, keeping your devices’ software up-to-date, and using strong and unique passwords for online accounts.
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