Charging Phone At Public USB Points May Put You At Risk Of ‘Juice Jacking’; Check Odisha Police Advisory

Bhubaneswar: Amid a sharp rise in cybercrime, the Odisha Police on Thursday issued an advisory warning people against plugging in mobile phones and devices at public USB charging points like those found at railway stations, restaurants, hospitals and also inside trains, as it can lead to data theft.

“Don’t charge your mobiles at public places like mobile charging station, USB power station etc. Cyber fraudsters are trying to steal your personal information from mobile and installing the malware inside your phone.”

It type of cybercrime that extracts sensitive information like passwords, bank details and credit card details from phones and tablets by infecting a public charging station or a USB cable is also known as ‘Juice jacking’ and is an increasingly popular ploy of cyber criminals.

Juice jacking exploits are a security threat at airports, shopping malls and other public places that provide free charging stations for mobile devices, according to TechTarget.

Besides stealing sensitive data from the system through the process, hackers can take a backup of the system and might also install malware into the phone using the port to track the activities on the device. The malware might even end up locking the device entirely.

A protective attachment, a USB condom, can prevent such attacks blocking connections to all the pins in the USB male connection except one – the pin that transfers power, the report added.