USA: The FBI has advised Americans to avoid using the free phone charging stations that can be found in hotels, airports, and other public areas because they could be used to hack into devices and could be a privacy threat.
Unknown as to what prompted the recommendation, the Denver office of the FBI recently argued against public charging sites in a social media post, echoing similar advice available on the FBI website.
Avoid using the free charging stations at hotels, shopping malls, and airports. "Carry your own charger and USB cord and use an outlet instead," it advised. "Bad actors have figured out ways to use public USB ports to introduce malware and monitoring software onto devices."
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) also claims that malicious actors can use USB ports to transfer malware onto the devices of unwary users, a practise it refers to as "juice jacking." The FCC is not the only federal agency to issue a warning about the phone chargers.
These malicious programmes can give users access to sensitive information, including passwords, which can then be used for various types of identity theft.
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By alerting users to suspect connections, some devices, including some iPhones, provide defence against juice jacking attacks. However, more advanced malware can get past the alerts.
The federal government has raised alarms, but it's still not clear how frequent these attacks actually are. 2019 saw the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office issue a warning to travellers about the risks associated with using public charging stations, and TechCrunch contacted the office to inquire about any reports of known instances of juice jacking.
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The office replied that it didn't have any cases on file and was unable to direct the outlet to any other sources that had information on the phenomenon.
