FBI warns to stop using public phone chargers

3 years ago 1

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned against using free public charging stations over fears of malicious actors having hijacked public chargers to infect devices with malware.

The US domestic intelligence and security service took to Twitter to advise that people instead carry their own USB cable and charger to charge their devices.

“Avoid using free charging stations in airports, hotels or shopping centres. Bad actors have figured out ways to use public USB ports to introduce malware and monitoring software onto devices,” the FBI said.

“Carry your own charger and USB cord and use an electrical outlet instead.”

Known as “Juice Jacking”, criminals can load malware onto public USB charging stations to infiltrate electronic devices while they are being charged.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a similar warning in 2021, adding that compromised charging stations can feed personal data directly to malicious actors.

“Malware installed through a dirty USB port can lock a device or export personal data and passwords directly to the perpetrator,” the FCC said at the time.

“Criminals can use that information to access online accounts or sell it to other bad actors.”

“In some cases, criminals have left cables plugged in at the stations,” it added.