Did you know that your phone's data can be stealed at the public
charging station? If no, then read on to find out how and what you
can do to prevent this data HiJacking.
SmartPhones today are smart enough to get charged using a USB cable
and it is also a growing trend to use the USB cable instead of the
normal charger.
You would find the mobile/cell-phone battery charging points
available at various public places like Airport, Movie hall,
Cafeteria etc.
What is the issue?
The issue is with the type of charger that you use. The normal
electric charger of mobile does not pose any issue as the wire is not
capable of transmitting data.
Whereas the USB cable charger is a multi-operation cable which can do
both i.e. charge your mobile and transmit data. So, you effectively
expose your mobile's data to external world when you use the USB
cable charger at a common public location.
You never know if there are hacking softwares installed on the
charging station and are programmed to copy data or install virus on
your smartphone! This concept has recently been in limelight when
some security researchers built a charging kiosk specially
designed to download the photos and contacts stored on smartphones
that are connected to it. They did it in order to educate consumers about the potential risk. The concept is known as
juice jacking.
What's is the way out?
Well, the solution lies in your hand itself. The very basic answer
is to use normal electric charger at public locations instead of USB
charger.
But, if you are in a situation like you only have USB charger with
you and need the charge desperately, it is recommended that you
switch OFF your phone completely and then put it on charge.
An opportunity for APP. developers..
It may also be a good idea for mobile app developers to create a software that can address this issue. May be restrict the memory card access with a password while charging using a USB cable. I am not aware of any such application as of now. But, if you know that it exists, please share it in comments.