Beware of new malicious public phone chargers

Happy Friday If you thought using a public phone charger was safe, it’s time to think again. For years we've heard of Juice jacking attacks and Google and Apple have done a great job keeping us safe from them. This new kind of hack, called Choice jacking, bypasses those safeguards and lets a hacker take over your phone in under a second. Juice jacking first made headlines over a decade ago, when hackers used infected charging stations to either steal data or inject malware onto connected phones. To fight this, our phones now require us to approve any data transfers when you plug your phone into an an unknown port. This change gives us the option to choose “charge only” or to allow file access.

But researchers from the Graz University of Technology in Austria found a way to sidestep those security prompts altogether. By spoofing USB or Bluetooth input devices to fake approve a data transfer, a bad guy can take complete control of it so fast, we wouldn't even see the screen change on our device.

The Takeaway

The rise of Choice jacking reinforces what cybersecurity experts have said for years: public USB ports should not be trusted. Even at airports, hotels, or cafés, a compromised charger could be waiting to hijack your device. With a single deceptive prompt, attackers can trick you into enabling features on your phone that can potentially expose your personal files, photos, contacts, passwords and other sensitive data.

Be sure to:

• Keep your phone’s software updated

• Avoid unfamiliar charging ports

• If you're worried about running out of charge while you're out and about, carry a portable power bank

• If you do need to plug in, try to use a wall outlet with your own cable and adapter instead of a public USB port, especially ones that look suspicious or overly complicated

Some devices let you select charge only mode, which prevents any data from being transferred. Turn that on if it’s available. Stay cautious, stay informed and stay ahead of the hackers.

Stay safe out there.

-Attila

The Positivity Box

This week Apple released security updates to address a high-severity vulnerability that has been exploited in zero-day attacks targeting Google Chrome users. The vulnerability enabled remote attackers to execute malicious code within specially crafted web pages, allowing them to escape the sandbox that isolates browser processes from the underlying operating system and install backdoors into Apple devices. Thank you Apple for staying on top of these vulnerabilities to keep us safe!

New Friday Funnies!

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Anyone got a charger?

Yeah, is a wall charger fine?

No, I meant for my phone.

What is your phone charger's favorite rock group?

AC / DC !

What is your phone charger's favorite football team?

The Chargers! Why isn't an iPhone charger...called Apple juice?