Smartphones and other gadgets have become an integral element of tourist equipment – electronic tickets, airline programs, cameras – all this is in them. This leads to the fact that phones are often discharged at the most crucial moment. Airports took care of tourists by preparing special charging stations. However, it was in the airports that a new danger lurked, about which the FBI warned tourists all over the world.
As quoted by CBS News Boston, the FBI in America has urged the public to avoid using public USB ports to charge their mobile phones and other gadgets. “Avoid using free charging stations at airports, hotels, or shopping malls. Attackers have found ways to use public USB ports to introduce malware and monitoring software onto devices,” the statement said.
It is through the available USB ports, the agency assures, that fraud such as “juice jacking” is carried out, when hackers drain information from a tourist’s phone while he is using a publicly available charger. Criminals download malware onto charging stations or cables they leave connected to the stations so they can infect unsuspecting users’ phones and other electronic devices.
“The malware can lock the device or export data and passwords directly to the fraudster,” tourists were warned. To avoid such a risk, tourists are advised to bring their chargers that plug into a regular outlet, or additional external batteries for gadgets.
By the way, tourists are also not recommended to use the chargers available in the hotel. Publications claim that some hotels accumulate a rich set of chargers – mostly from those forgotten by tourists earlier. But you should not use them. This time the reason is not hackers – the problem is that it is not known what quality these charges are and where they came from. Counterfeit chargers can easily damage your phone’s batteries and charging port, leaving you with a new phone.