Quick Answer
A lot has been talked about and written about juice jacking, and even the FBI has tweeted about it, but no reports about someone falling prey to juice jacking have been reported. However, it won’t hurt if you remain cautious when using any publicly available charging port so that you aren’t among the ones being juice-jacked.
Those USB charging stations at the airport or in public places look enticing when your phone or any other electronic gadget runs out of battery. Don’t they? Imagine a situation when you just came off a plane, came outside the airport, and wanted to book a taxi, only to find that your phone’s battery was dead. This could make the situation challenging because you need your phone not only for booking the taxi but also to be in touch with your loved ones and share your whereabouts.
In such a situation, you wouldn’t mind a place that offered you the option to charge your device. Well, if that’s what you think is a great option or what you have opted for in the past, then beware; you could have been or could become a victim of Juice Jacking. This does not apply to every place, and you probably won’t mind plugging in your device for that extra battery since it could be a life-saving moment, but it comes with a risk. In this guide, we will discuss what juice jacking is, how it works, and whether it’s true or simply media hype.
What is juice jacking?
Juice jacking is a term used for a cybercriminal attack when attackers use public charging stations or USB ports to steal data from your device or install malware, which could be later used for tracking, doxxing, or harassment. Notably, when you plug in your smartphone to a USB charging port via a USB cable, it starts charging and also becomes ready for data transfer. Attackers take advantage of this phenomenon and could steal your data.
By not only stealing your data but also using juicejacking, attackers could install malware apps that could even monitor your keystrokes. Meaning, your login ID, passwords, and other security credentials related to your social media profile, bank account, etc. are revealed.
Brian Krebs was the first person to report such an attack, and he coined the term ‘juice jacking’. The term ‘Juice’ in juice jacking means the electricity that is used for powering your device, and ‘Jacking’ simply means hijacking your phone, tablet, laptop, or any other electronic device. As the usage of electronic devices increases exponentially in our daily lives, public charging stations have become the norm. FBI Denver also tweeted about juice jacking in 2023.
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
Being a traveler, I have the privilege of staying in and exploring some of the best countries in the world. During my time in Europe, the UK, and especially China, I came across multiple public charging stations, which did look shady to me at least (since I stay up to date with technology), but others seemed happy for their devices to get some extra juice for free.
Public charging stations are available at malls, coffee shops, railway stations, airports, and basically in places where there is bound to be huge public traffic. These places are the perfect spot for hijackers to adulterate a public charging station and steal your data. Innocent people, for the sake of some extra battery percentage, don’t know that there is an exchange taking place, some battery power for your important data.
How does juice jacking work?
Juice jacking generally involves using a USB connection to steal the user’s data. Attackers infest the charging station with malware or leave an adulterated USB cable in the public station. When a user plugs in their smartphone or other electronic gadget to charge, they get scammed and their data is stolen.
It should be noted that the success of juice jacking lies in the dual-functioning USB cable, i.e., that allows for data transfer and charging. Smartphone manufacturers have implemented various techniques to mitigate juice jacking attacks by showing you a prompt to confirm data transfer when you connect your device via a USB cable. The malicious app could lock your phone, extract personal data, and even provide unauthorized access to online accounts.
There are different types of juice jacking:
- Data theft: In data theft, via juice jacking, the attacker will try to steal your data. This will be a fully automated operation, and it will start as soon as you plug in your smartphone to the USB cable. The amount of crucial data that we store on our smartphones, such as credit card information, bank accounts, social media accounts, etc., can be compromised.
- Malware infection: In this, the attacker uploads malware or virus into your phone, which will result in problems such as data loss, screen lock, device slowdown, installation of other malware, data theft, etc.
- Multi-device juice jacking: It is similar to malware or virus infection; however, in this case, the main objective is mass infection. Notably, the USB that you use to charge your device is loaded with a virus that could infect other USB charging points.
- Disabling juice jacking: In this type of juice jacking, when the malware enters the target’s phone via the USB charging station, it disables the phone, basically locking the user out of it, giving full control of the device to the attacker.
Is juice jacking real or just a media hype?
Notably, juice jacking was the central focus of an episode of CSI: Cyber. Season 1: Episode 9, “L0M1S” aired in April 2015. The Federal Communications Commission has also published an article about Juice Jacking and how you can avoid it. However, in our research, we found out that there haven’t been any credible reports of juice jacking ever reported, nor have any people experienced it.
In fact, a report by ArsTechnica says the warnings about juice jacking in airports and hotels, are utterly nonsense. Another report also confirms that the juice-jacking phenomenon is just bogus, and there haven’t been any reports of anyone getting juice-jacked.
How to prevent being juice jacked?
While there haven’t been any reports of people getting juice jacked, preventing the usage of public charging stations is still recommended. There are a few tips that we have listed below that will help you prevent unnecessary trouble in your life:
- Carry a power bank: We use a lot of electronic devices in our daily lives. Especially when traveling, our smartphones or tablets are our companions to kill time till the plane takes off. In such scenarios, do consider carrying a power bank with you all the time. Also don’t forget to charge your power bank before you head out. If you aren’t sure, then check out our guide that explains if you can take a power bank with you on a plane.
- Carry your charger: Avoid using public charging stations, and if you find a socket, always ensure that you are using your personal power brick and charging cable to charge your smartphone.
- Disable data transfer option: If your phone offers the option, disable the automatic data transfer option and choose the ‘charge your phone’ option.
- Look for any prompt: When connecting to a charging port, your phone shows a prompt such as ‘trust this computer’ and then understands that you have connected to another device. In such cases, quickly deny the permission and detach your device from the USB port.
- Turn off your device: The best thing that you can do when you are using public charging stations or publicly available sockets to charge your phone is to simply turn off your device.
Final thoughts
True or not, you shouldn’t take chances, or at least be cautious, when using public charging stations and even public Wi-Fi. If you are in desperate need of using public Wi-Fi, then you should make use of any one of the VPNs listed in our guide to avoid getting your information hacked.
Besides using a power bank, which you can carry along all the time and use to charge your device, another alternative is to use a device called a Juice-Jack defender. As the name suggests, a Juice-Jack defender is a device that connects to your charging/data cable and prevents any accidental transfer of data via the device’s charging port. Essentially, it works by allowing the adaptor to permit the flow of power through it, but restricting a connection between the data transfer pins — in a way, only allowing the device to be charged while blocking the flow of data to-and-from the device. Although this is not a completely fool-proof solution, it offers a certain level of protection for when you decide to you a public charging kiosk.
