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The US Federal Police FBI warns against public charging stations for use on smartphones and tablets. In a recent tweet from the branch Denver it says, “avoid free charging stations in airports, hotels or shopping malls”. Criminals would have found ways to use these stations to Malware and monitoring software onto the devices of unsuspecting users.
that public USB-Kabel or USB-Ports being manipulated to attack devices that plug into it is not new in itself. Security experts and authorities have warned of the dangers several times. It is one of the most reliable methods to get unwanted software onto devices of unsuspecting users. If you catch the software this way, there’s a good chance you’ll catch it by the next Factory Reset can’t get rid of.
The FBI recommends that you always have your own cables and USB adapter with you ordinary sockets to use for charging. However, there is another possibility. So-called “USB Condom” (here about a corresponding device Amazon) can be plugged in between a third-party USB port and your own mobile phone. They block the data transfer and thus protect against unwanted transmissions of malicious software.
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