- “Juice jacking” consists of stealing data or hacking the target’s smartphone when it is connected to a tampered charging station
- The best thing to do is not to use these terminals, according to the FBI
- But you can also use a USB condom to charge your smartphone safely
To avoid being a victim of “juice jacking”, avoid connecting your smartphone to public charging stations. Indeed, these can be tampered with by hackers to hack you. But to be prepared for all eventualities, you can also use a small adapter called a USB data blocker or USB condom.
This technique recently came back into the news, following an FBI publication. “Avoid using free charging stations at airports, hotels or shopping malls. Malicious actors have found ways to use public USB ports to introduce malware and surveillance software to devices. Bring your own charger and USB cord and use an electrical outlet instead”reads the tweet from the US service.
Avoid using free charging stations in airports, hotels or shopping centers. Bad actors have figured out ways to use public USB ports to introduce malware and monitoring software onto devices. Carry your own charger and USB cord and use an electrical outlet instead. pic.twitter.com/9T62SYen9T
— FBI Denver (@FBIDenver) April 6, 2023
Apart from USB charging stations in public places, you should also avoid using a charger case or USB cable that looks abandoned. But the risk is eliminated when you use the famous USB condom which blocks the data, but lets the recharge pass.
Understanding “juice jacking”
In essence, when you connect your smartphone to a tampered terminal, it takes advantage of the USB connection to steal data, or to inject malware. And according to Malwarebytes, some hackers don’t need you to enable data transfer to hack your smartphone. To steal data or inject malware on these tampered terminals, hackers take advantage of the data transfer function of the USB cable, while you use the charging function.
To protect against this risk, the USB condom will physically disable the data transfer functionality. And since only the functionality (or the wires) necessary for charging remains, hackers no longer have the possibility of hacking your smartphone even if the charging station has been tampered with.
Two essential accessories for your #cybersecurity
– a USB data blocker or USB condom (to recharge without risking an infection of your device)
– an ?anti NFC card holder (to protect against contactless fraud)#OurCommitmentYourCyberSecurity pic.twitter.com/ki0qRF0m7w— CyberGend (@CyberGEND) November 1, 2021
These USB condoms look like small adapters: you first connect the adapter to the charging station, and it is to this adapter that you connect your smartphone cable.
USB condom
NEVER leave home without one…. pic.twitter.com/DkqPoMqTub— Sidragon (@Sidragon1) August 19, 2021
Otherwise, the OSOM brand also had the good idea to integrate this data blocking feature directly on its USB cable. A button allows you to activate or deactivate data transfers, to protect the smartphone.
#Service OV1 usb charging cable.
Switch included, data on, data off, depending where you’re charging your phone like public areas charger/outlets.@OsomPrivacy pic.twitter.com/UFvoCU2y9G— M1Κ4_3L (@M1K4_3L) March 4, 2022
