What is juice jacking?
Juice jacking is a type of cyber-attack which originates from USB charging ports installed at public places such as airports, cafes, bus stands, etc. leading to malware or leakage of sensitive information from your device.
Consequences:
- Data theft: Your personally identifiable information (PII), account credentials, banking-related or Credit Card data can be copied to another device. There are also many malicious apps that can clone all your phone’s data to another phone.
- Malware installation: Once the connection is established, malware is automatically installed in the connected device including but not limited to adware, crypto miners, ransomware, and spyware of Trojans.
Prevention and Safeguards:
- Keep your devices fully charged or carry personal charger/power bank, external batteries, or use wireless charging stations.
- Lock your device once connected to the charging station, to prevent the fraudster from being able to sync or transfer data.
- Use specialized cables which make it impossible to transmit data across the connection.
- Use a USB pass through device which allows power to flow through but disable the data pin on the USB charger.
- If you must charge your phone, use an AC wall outlet.
- Enable and use your device’s software security measures by disabling your device’s option to automatically transfer data when a charging cable is connected. This is the default on iOS devices. Android users should disable this option in the Settings App.
