Privacy: Juice Jacking, and How To Avoid It

Our data recovery partner, DriveSavers, wrote an excellent article on how to avoid having data stolen from your mobile device or being infected by malware at public charging stations:

[...]

Juice jacking is when a USB outlet or charging cord already connected to an outlet has been altered to not only provide power, but also to collect information. We’re talking about a hacked charging station.

To do this, hackers install fully automated malware onto digital charging stations. This way, they don’t need to be nearby, or even in the vicinity, to collect information and infect connected devices. This malware usually includes crawlers, literally designed to pour over the minutiae of your data to find the most valuable components, which are typically financial.

[...]

When you connect your device to a new computer, you should receive an alert asking if you trust the computer. If you get this alert when you’re simply trying to connect to a public charging station, there’s definitely something wrong! Unplug your device, and let someone, who can fix the problem, know.

Read the full article here.

(Image from DriveSavers Blog)