Airport Charging Stations – Why Avoid Using Them?
While waiting for a flight in an airport, everyone tries to find the airport charging stations. After all no one wants to run out of charge when they land their destination. However, not many people are aware of the risk they put themselves into the moment they plug in their phones. These charging stations are a welcome sign for the cyber criminals into the personal data on your phone.
The cyber criminals know how to modify the USB connections and use them to either infect your phone with malware or even steal confidential data from it. As per Caleb Barlow (the Vice President of X-Force Threat Intelligence at IBM Security) the airport charging stations are dangerous. He compares them as a used tooth brush lying on the floor, which you will never like to use.
Using A Personal Charger Is Always A Wise Move
While traveling, we all carry our personal chargers and power banks. Using them while waiting for your departure can save you from a great risk. However, if you have some reason for using the airport charging stations, you should always use a Juice-Jack Defender. This $10 device is capable of blocking the transfer of the data from these chords. Since it is also a small dongle, carrying it in your pocket or wallet will be convenient.
Why The Use Of Airport Charging Stations Is More Of A Threat Nowadays?
An average traveler may mock you for being so cautious. For them it is just charging the phone, but the cyber crime is the most active in the present time. Moreover, the research of IBM Security states that hackers are concentrating more on traveler industry now. In 2017, the transportation industry was ranked tenth as a priority target for the cyber criminals, and now it has climbed up to the second place. As per the latest records from the year 2018, around 566 million records have been compromised.
Also, Never Use Tech Accessories That You Find On The Airport
The person who intends to hack the virtual accounts of people, have formulated various schemes to do so. One of these is to intentionally drop a normal looking charging chord on the airport. This basic chord has chances of hiding a chip inside it. If you or another person is tempted to take it as your own, you might be giving open access to the hacker to steal any kind of data available on your phone.
Another common tech device that the cyber criminals are using is a USB stick. It does the same job as the intentionally forgotten chord. Many companies have banned the use of the USB sticks in their workplace as thy can prove to be extremely dangerous.
Traveling safe is important and being aware about the cyber crime that can happen because of the airport charging stations will help you avoid the risk.