The Risky Business of Charging Your Phone in Public

From SpreadPrivacy.com:

If you get a bit frantic when your phone or tablet battery is low, you’re not alone. An LG survey found that 90% of people experience “Low Battery Anxiety” when their phone’s battery dips below 20%. This can understandably cause you to seek out the nearest charger. But not all methods for boosting your battery power are safe!

The Risk: Charging your phone or tablet at a public charging station.

It’s become commonplace to find free USB charging stations in many public areas, from airports to hospital waiting rooms. While this seems like a thoughtful accommodation, a quick recharge from a USB port in a public setting could actually put your data at risk of being stolen.

Although it has become synonymous with charging, USB technology was initially developed with the aim of transmitting data. Thus, hackers can use these public charging stations to install malware on your smartphone or tablet through a compromised USB cable. This process, called “juice jacking“, allows hackers to read and export your data, including your passwords. They can even lock your device this way, rendering it unusable.

According to our survey of 1,029 American adults, 54.6% (±3.1) of all respondents weren’t aware of this risk 😧.

Read the full article here: https://spreadprivacy.com/privacy-risks-usb-charging/