This might give you a charge.
The FBI’s Denver office is warning people against using USB ports at public charging stations in places such as airports, hotels, and shopping centers.
“Bad actors have figured out ways to use public USB ports to introduce malware and monitoring software onto devices,” the Feds tweeted. (I assume that “bad actors” are probably hackers. Not the people in movies and TV shows. 🙂 )
CNBC’s Rohan Goswami notes, “The FBI’s Denver field office said the message was meant as an advisory, and that there was no specific case that prompted it.” (Bold mine.)
I’m curious what the FBI learned — and how. (Although, I doubt we’ll learn.)
The FBI’s advice?
“Carry your own charger and USB cord and use an electrical outlet instead.”
That’s pretty much what I do, anyway. I generally plug my iPhone and iPad into my laptop or power strip — even in airport lounges with USB ports. I’m not necessarily worried about my phone’s data getting hijacked. But USB ports in lounges, airport gate areas, and even hotel rooms don’t seem to charge my devices very quickly — and that’s when the ports actually work.
I found interesting the tweet’s mention of “public USB ports” at hotels. I don’t remember ever seeing large charging stations/banks with several USB ports in a hotel’s public areas. Are they talking about the ones in guest room desks and nightstands? Or maybe USB ports in public area end tables or something?
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Do you take any precautions specifically because of juice jacking? Or does this not really worry you?
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This actually has been an issue for years now. And as a result, the marketplace has responded with a great little device called a data blocker, also referred to as a USB condom. It blocks the data channels on the USB connection and only allows charging. Amazon has a bunch of them. I bought the Amazon Choice (4 blockers for $10) and gave them to my wife and daughter. It’s a great solution when your only option is a USB port.
It could happen but has there EVER been any documented case where it has?
I bet there are lots of things that have happened but the government hasn’t told us about.
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There are (thick) credit card sized power banks that cost under $20. Easy work-around.
Patrick, I can’t point to a specific example but, as Bob states, it has been an issue for years.
Though it is technically possible, both iOS and Android have incorporated security features to prevent this threat. Since the advent of the features, it seems that this threat has taken to the “apocryphal” level.
This is not a new threat in fact the FBI themselves could have been doing this to people. Maybe they have stopped doing it themselves and therefore now feel it’s OK to let people know. And thank you FBI for educating bad actors that didn’t already know about this.