FBI: Don't trust airport phone chargers

[CannotSwim]

 

[6rugrats]

If you are concerned, just use the wall charger.  I can see the outlets on this charging station.

Edited April 10, 2023 by 6rugrats

[d9704011]

1 minute ago, 6rugrats said:

How about if you just skip the USB port and use your wall charger?  Is that safe?

Yes, that's OK.

 

I'm a little surprised that the Denver FBI office hasn't issued a warning about crossing the street and the possibility that bad actors (mainly people looking at their cell phones) could run you down.  I expect this is more likely to occur than the USB charging issue.

[FlyerTalker]

If you regularly need to use public USB ports for charging, the solution is to get a power-only cable, or a similar concept "data blocker".  Both of these are USB connections that have removed the data transfer pins, leaving behind only the pins that transmit power.

 

Easily found at Amazon and other sources.  Or you can just make your own by pulling out the power pins from a cable you already own.

 

And FWIW, this data theft is known as "juice jacking" and has been around for a while.

 

 

[Z'Loth]

2 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

If you regularly need to use public USB ports for charging, the solution is to get a power-only cable, or a similar concept "data blocker".  Both of these are USB connections that have removed the data transfer pins, leaving behind only the pins that transmit power.

 

Are you talking about these adapters? 

[FlyerTalker]

27 minutes ago, Z'Loth said:

Are you talking about these adapters? 

 

That's representative of the devices I talked about.  There are also versions where it is a cable, but with the data pins removed.  Both are equally effective at preventing juice jacking.

 

JSAUX is a reputable brand for cables and adapters.

 

 

[ericosmith]

Excuse my ignorance but at least on Android you have to allow a connection that does more than just charging.  Are they implying that this safeguard can be easily defeated?

 

[d9704011]

6 hours ago, ericosmith said:

Excuse my ignorance but at least on Android you have to allow a connection that does more than just charging.  Are they implying that this safeguard can be easily defeated?

 

The device operating system is unimportant for this issue.  The idea is that while recharging your device by plugging it into a USB port you can inadvertently provide access to your device to hackers and 'bad acfors'.  To avoid this potential problem there are a number of things you can do:

 

1.  avoid charging a device at the airport;

2.  use an adapter to plug in to a wall socket rather than a USB;

3.  carry around a backup battery for charging while travelling;

4.  purchase and use a power only cable (see post #4), which has the data pins removed.

 

Now, whether and how you use your device(s) in an airport is an entirely different topic!

Edited April 11, 2023 by d9704011

[FlyerTalker]

5 hours ago, d9704011 said:

Now, whether and how you use your device(s) in an airport is an entirely different topic!

 

Suffice to say -- if you use public or restaurant wifi without a VPN, juice jacking is the least of your worries.

 

 

[hallux]

This is why I bring battery banks (one 15,000 mAh, one 5,000 mAh) in my carry-on, and bring a USB charge hub of my own.