Do you charge your smartphone this way? It’s dangerous. Only 80 seconds is enough

In the era of ubiquitous public chargers, they significantly increase the comfort of using these devices. But they also made the juice jacking method return to favor among hackers, according to the US Army Cyber ​​Command (a special unit of the US Army dealing with cyber security). In the past, criminals abandoned this method because it required physical media that became obsolete through data clouds. Public chargers have made it possible for hackers to use juice jacking again.

Public chargers can be dangerous for your smartphone due to juice jacking

“The name of this data-stealing method comes from an American phrase, which literally means juicing. ‘Juice’ in this case, however, has a completely different meaning, it is the colloquial name for the electric current that flows from the port, through the cable, to our phone. Criminals they do not so much squeeze the juice as they push viruses into our smartphone, or they try to obtain from us “- we read on the chronpesel.pl portal.

The calculations of American experts show that 80 seconds of charging a device in a public USB charger is enough for it to be infected with malware. Of course, not all USB ports are infected, but in public spaces it is better to avoid them and instead use electrical outlets that only carry electricity.

However, there are cybersecurity experts who believe that juice jacking is not a real threat. They point out that there have been no known cases of such use of USB ports. In addition, they remind us that modern smartphones inform us that data is being sent to the phone.

– It is worth paying attention to the fact that not everyone has the most modern device that can provide such a service. Some of the modern smartphones require this type of notifications to be enabled in the phone settings, which not everyone looks at. Secondly, when we act in a hurry, we can click consent to data transfer not fully consciously. So it’s much better to be extra careful. Many people treat their devices as wallets. Connected payment card, login to mObywatel or saved password to log in to the Patient’s Internet Account. All of these places contain our data, including . Each smartphone also collects location data or shopping information. Our telephone number and e-mail address are also valuable data for cybercriminals, because in this way they can contact us and send e-mails or text messages impersonating a company or institution – warns Bartłomiej Drozd, an expert at ChronPESEL.pl.

How to charge your phone in public space?

Chronpesel.pl has prepared recommendations in case we are forced to use a public charger:

1. In case we need to use a public USB port, we should use our own USB cable. Preferably one that does not allow data transfer.
2. Do not allow data transfer when the device is connected.
3. Use 2-Step Verification and biometrics to sign in whenever possible.
4. Always update your software to the latest version.