Juice Jacking – A deadly way to steal your data

With a steady increase in digital payments through phones across the world, cybercriminals are coming up with Juice Jacking to prey on naive users.

In recent times, there have been a lot of accusations that people losing their money. Hackers trick them into revealing their credit/debit card details and OTP over the phone.

The State Bank of India has issued a warning regarding the Juice Jacking aka USB charging Scam. This is a new age atrocious technique. This infects mobile phones with malware at public places like Airports and Train Stations.

What’s Juice Jacking?

Witty hackers have developed an innocuous-looking yet sophisticated USB port-like gadget that can be installed at the charging stations.

Once the user plugs his/her phone, the device can bypass the security system of the phone. This leads to installing the malware in it and steals the entire contents of the phones. These include contact details, emails, messages, photos, videos, including sensitive financial information.

The SBI’s warning came a week after the California Los Angeles County District Attorney department sent alerts to the residents, travellers to avoid charging phones at public places, especially Airports.

Measures to protect against Juice Jacking

• Best way to avoid Juice Jacking is to carry your portable chargers.
• Always use two-pin AC outlet to charge your phones in public charging stations.
• Never use USB ports to charge your phones in the charging stations.