Heard of Juice Jacking? FBI: Don’t Charge Phone In Public Places

The FBI is warning Michiganders to not charge their phones at public charging stations.

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Public Phone Charging Stations

When a person is traveling, an airport, hotel, or even a shopping center can seem like an oasis if there is a public charging station and you're phone is in need of a charge.

When flying, a cell phone can be a traveler's best friend because like most flights having to get there early, wait for your flight, wait for your ride, or whatever, a phone can give you plenty to do while you wait. Those public charging stations become pretty handy but are they safe?

FBI Warns to Not Use Public Phone Charging Stations

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning people to not use a convenience most all of us have used at one time or another and that is to not use public phone charging stations at airports and anywhere there are high volumes of people traveling.

Leave it to hackers to find a way to ruin a good thing for those who travel for work or even take a simple vacation. Hackers have found a way to manipulate USB ports in public charging stations with a process called "Juice Jacking."

What is Juice Jacking?

Sophisticated hackers are able to use public phone charging stations to install malware on your phone and copy your data like credit or bank card information, passwords, photos, and more.

WOOD reported that Greg Gogolin, the director of cybersecurity and data science at Ferris State University said, "You could lose your data potentially that way or you could potentially have malware, wipe out bank accounts, or charge out credit cards."

What Can You Do to Prevent Juice Jacking?

Well, the obvious thing to do is to make sure your phone is charged before you leave but I know that is easier said than done.  Most airports, hotels, and public areas have normal plug outlets for other uses, plug your charger in there.

They also make mini-units that will charge your phone without having to plug it in. You can find those reasonably priced online or in big box tech stores.