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Get a USB pass-through device, as they disable the data transfer pin and only allow charge transfer.ĥ hidden iPhone 14 Pro features you need to use. Carry a portable charging solution like a power bank if you often need to juice your device on the go. Better yet, power off your phone or laptop. Always keep your phone locked while charging. If possible, find an AC wall outlet for charging instead of a kiosk with multiple cables dangling out of it. But if you must charge a device in a public place, here are a few safety measures you need to keep in mind: In 2019, the County of Los Angeles also issued a warning against juice jacking, alerting citizens that bad actors can deploy infected USB outlets in public places to wreak havoc. Plus, the FBI’s warning is not the first advisory of its kind. A few years later, security experts came up with another such device (called Mactans) that could load malware on an iPhone or iPad under the guise of charging it. In 2011, researchers actually created a compromised charging kiosk loaded with malware in a bid to raise awareness about the issue. Power banks are the safest charging option when you are on the move. Needless to say, specify that the USB connection is used solely for charging and no other activity.
The current generation of phones and laptops disable data transfer by default, and every time you connect a USB cable, an on-screen prompt appears that asks whether you want to use the USB connection for data transfer or just charging. With such a privilege, and in lieu of active malware protection software on your system, it becomes extremely convenient to transfer malware files for bad deeds like running adware, exploiting the onboard resources for crypto mining in the background, spying, and ransomware.įrom extracting files stored on your phone or laptop stored to malware injection, there’s a ton of damage that can be done. The risk agent here is that when you connect your phone or computer via a USB cable interface, a trusted handshake is established.