Is there a growing crime within mobile charging stations and car USB stations?
Updated: Oct 11, 2022
The Federal Trade Commission warned consumers against connecting a personal smartphone to the entertainment system through a USB port in a rental car. This is because the dashboard software can import and store data from your phone, like your call logs, messages, contacts and locations you requested from the GPS software.
This is probably one of the most common locations to plug your mobile device in, along with public charging points, colleagues laptops and the most public and yet unknown place of all in flight charging.
How safe are we, when it comes to charging publicly, I suppose it could be classed as how safe are you leaving your house unlocked when you go out for the day. Its not something that you ever risk trying, is it and yet we openly plug our mobiles in to charge anywhere and we don't have any security protecting us, risking not only personal data being stolen but also malware and viruses transferring onto your phone or tablet. They are calling it juice jacking and now the holiday season is upon us public charging points are going to be a Juice Jackers haven.
At a DefCon back in 2011 a mobile charging Kiosk was placed along with a notice on screen
“You should not trust public kiosks with your smart phone. Information can be retrieved or downloaded without your consent. Luckily for you, this station has taken the ethical route and your data is safe. Enjoy the free charge!”
One gentleman claimed his phone had USB transfer off and he would be fine. When he plugged in, it instantly went into USB transfer mode, He then sheepishly said, ‘Guess that setting doesn’t work.'
Companies are becoming more aware of private data being stolen, with many employees working from their mobile devices the security breach is an ever growing issue. This begs the question, do employees now have the responsibility to ensure that all their devices containing corporate information aren't charged publicly or are charged with products like USB defender.
USB defender travels with me everywhere, I locked the door to my phone, keeping all my pictures of my family, especially my children secure. I know that my my data is safe and isn't going to be hacked and no viruses can be transferred on to my ipad or phone.