There are USB ports for everyone to use in places like airports and you can use these ports to charge your phone. But according to the FBI, you definitely shouldn’t do that.
The warning came from the FBI’s Denver field office last week. The bureau warns all travelers, not just Denver residents, to avoid using free charging stations in public places such as airports, hotels, or marketplaces: “Avoid using free charging stations at airports, hotels, or shopping malls. Malicious people have found ways to use public USB ports to inject malware and monitoring software into devices. Carry your own charger and USB cable and use a power outlet.”
The FBI is talking about a type of attack called “juice jacking” here: Malicious people infect public chargers with malware, sometimes even leaving their own cables with them to entice people to use these ports. When you plug your phone into an infected USB charger, this malware can install on your device, lock your phone or copy sensitive data and send it to malicious users.
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