The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in its recent issued warning, has cautioned consumers using free public charging station. The security service has warned users that cyber criminals have found ways to add malwares and monitoring software onto these charging stations. The bad actors can use these ways to seek access to consumer’s private phone, tablet or computer.
“Avoid using free charging stations in airports, hotels or shopping centers,” FBI’s Denver field office’s tweet reads. “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.”
To mitigate these risks, FBI has recommended several precautions for users to follow, including avoiding use of free public charging stations. It advises consumers to keep their software and antivirus software updated, using strong passcodes, and not opening any suspicious links or accounts. These steps should be adopted to keep data safe.
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“Be careful when connecting to a public Wi-Fi network and do not conduct any sensitive transactions, including purchases, when on a public network,” reads a guidance on website.
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This kind of cyber attack wherein the bad actors use public charging stations or USB ports to steal data from private devices like smartphone, laptop or other electronic devices. While this kind of cyber attack is s real threat and could risk very sensitive data of users, FBI has said that there have been no such active cases and that the message was issues as an advisory.
