Friday, August 19, 2011

Charging Stations May be 'Juice-Jacking' Data from Your Cellphone

Just great! Now we have to worry about charging stations stealing data.

It might be a theoretical possibility at the moment, but public charging stations for smart phones can "juice-jack" your data.

At this year's DefCon, the folks at Aires Security built a free smartphone charging station, but with a twist. Krebs on Security reported that when an unsuspecting person plugged in, they were immediately warned that these kiosks are more than capable of downloading their smartphone's data without their knowledge or consent.

Instead of relying on charging stations while traveling, carry with you a plug adapter, use battery- or solar-powered mobile charging devices, or, if absolutely necessary to use a third-party charger, turn your smartphone completely off before plugging it into a kiosk, some might say.

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