What if while having a ‘juice break’ your data goes through ‘Juice-jacking’. As users charge their devices at public places , experts believe cyber criminals can drain their data from the USB charging stations. From what it is understood, Juice jacking can be defined as a hardware-based third party attack. The attacker uses a USB connection to send malware onto the charging station or to corrupt a connection cable leaving it plugged-in. Eventually an user uses the ‘forgotten’ cable and falls into the exploiters trap. This can result in data leakage of sensitive data, containing personal information, which might pose a threat.
It is believed that ‘Juice-jacking’ exploits are able to extract users data because the same port used to charge a device also transfers data. Even after having five pins, the USB connector uses only one to charge and only two of the five pins to transfer data. This pattern allows an end user to move files between a mobile device and a computer while the mobile device is being charged.
Reportedly, the most common devices to face ‘Juice-jacking’ can be USB ports and phone charging cables, which are usually found in public places. Experts believe that ‘Juice-jacking’ emerged at the DEF CON hacking conference in August 2011. As safety precautions users are advised to switch off their devices while charging. Also, frequent updates of device need to be executed and users’ devices should not pair with any unknown devices. Experts believe carrying own charging devices is always a safer option, rather than depending on the public ones. Additionally adding passwords and PIN can also protect users from ‘juice-jacking’.
Furthermore, in case the user is already being affected by the threat, they can report immediately to the cyber fraud team. Users need to file the complaint by contacting the helpline number at 1930 or filing a cyber fraud report at https://www.cybercrime.gov.in, cyber frauds official website.
