When your battery is dying and you’re nowhere near a power outlet, would you connect your phone to any old USB port? Joyce did, and her mobile phone got infected. How? Through a type of cyberattack called “juice jacking.” Don’t be like Joyce.
Although Joyce and her infected phone are hypothetical, juice jacking is technically possible. The attack uses a charging port or infected cable to exfiltrate data from the connected device or upload malware onto it. The term was first used by
Brian Krebs in 2011 after a
proof of concept was conducted at DEF CON by Wall of Sheep. When users plugged their phones into a free charging station, a message appeared on the kiosk screen saying:
“You should not trust public kiosks with your smart phone. Information can be retrieved or downloaded without your consent. Luckily for you, this station has taken the ethical route and your data is safe. Enjoy the free charge!”
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