[imagesource:wikimediacommons]

Travelling and your phone’s battery does not go hand in hand.

You’re snapping pics all the time, checking Google Maps constantly, hailing Ubers all over the place, transferring more spendable money into the right account, and sharing the highlights with your Instagram followers. Then, suddenly, you’re on 1% and need a charging port stat.

If you’re not close to your hotel or don’t have a portable charger, public charging stations could be the saving grace you need in this desperate moment, but the FBI is warning against that.

As Inc.Africa notes, any time you make technology easily accessible, it becomes a target. For this reason, the FBI is warning people not to plug their devices into USB charging ports at hotels, airports, shopping malls, or coffee shops.

Where a hack is possible, hackers will find a way, and some of them have figured out ways to use the ports to transfer malware onto devices:

The problem is, USB doesn’t only provide power. It’s also capable of transmitting data to and from your device. That’s why you have USB ports on your laptop, for example, When you plug in a hard drive or device to a USB port, you can transfer files or back up your device. USB connectors are basically little tiny computers that communicate with your device to determine things like how much current to send or how fast to send data.

In light of this, they can easily be hijacked for more nefarious purposes, like stealing information off your device:

Avoid using free charging stations in airports, hotels or shopping centers. Bad actors have figured out ways to use public USB ports to introduce malware and monitoring software onto devices. Carry your own charger and USB cord and use an electrical outlet instead. pic.twitter.com/9T62SYen9T

— FBI Denver (@FBIDenver) April 6, 2023

As mentioned, the simplest solution is to rather use your own standard charging brick plugged into an AC power outlet.

If you have an iPhone, and you plug it into a port that wants to access your device, you’ll most likely get a pop-up asking if you trust the device you’re connected to. Now you know the answer should always be “no” at public charging ports.

Anyway, current versions of iOS on iPhones are designed to protect your information, as well as some Androids, but it is always best to stay ahead of the enemy.

[source:incafrica]