As we begin a holiday period that many will take advantage of to travel, it is a good time to remember a type of cyberattack that often starts in places like airports or train stations. Although to be precise, we should not focus here only and keep in mind any public charging point using USB terminals. We are talking about what is called juice-jacking, something like the juice attack, because the objective is to squeeze the attacked device to remove all its content.
This type of cyberattack is based on the fact that smartphone users are often low on battery and urgently need to charge it. Given the potential crisis of not having their phone available, the possibility of connecting to a public charging point is a real salvation and, often, any security precautions take a back seat. Error.
USB connections have the virtue of allowing charging and data transfer, a function that is extremely useful when we work with portable memories, but a real danger when we connect to an unknown source. A manipulated USB port can allow access to foreign devices, without the owner's consent, and steal data or install malicious software, malware.
So, is it absolutely inadvisable to use a public charging point? To be completely safe, yes. Logically, not everywhere they are manipulated by a cybercriminal, but since we will never know, the ideal is to avoid it. If we don't have a battery and we need to charge our mobile or tablet, it is much more advisable to find a plug and use the ordinary charger and cable. If there is no other choice but to connect to the public USB, a fundamental action is to allow the use of charging only when the device asks us what action we want to do with the connection that has just been initiated. Another precaution to take is to charge with the device turned off and for the shortest possible time according to what we think we may need until we are ready to charge more safely.
In addition, of course, there are options for those who already tend to require this type of charging, let's say untimely, because they tend to be out of battery often outside the usual charging place, whether at home or at work. It's not the most convenient, but portable batteries are excellent for having autonomy. Of course, you have to carry them as charged or more than your mobile phone when you leave the house. And it's still another device to carry around. Therefore, in case of emergencies, it would be easier to have a juice-jack defender, or a USB condom, a USB adapter that is placed between the charging point and the device that disables the data pins and allows only the urgent, charging. A good option to prevent infections.
