There’s no place like home for the holidays- that’s why nearly 112.5 million travelers will be hitting the nation’s roads and runways this holiday season.
While many travel woes are about fight and gas expenses, traffic, and just getting to your destination on time, most don’t think about having their information stolen in public areas- places such as airports and rest stops.
Let’s set the scene - you and your family arrived at the airport after a long day of work, your phones are getting low on battery and you want to be able to watch that Netflix show you downloaded during your flight. You see a charging station in your terminal, so you plug in, charge your phone, and wait until it’s your turn to board.
But what if I told you that your phone can be hacked by a public charging station?
The Los Angeles DA’s office released a warning ahead of the busy Thanksgiving travel days cautioning travelers to avoid public charging stations. Hackers are able to use these public plug-ins as a way to install malware via the charging cable, which in turn gives that hacker access to ALL the data on your phone- including passwords, photos, videos, banking information, etc. This crime has been coined ‘juice hacking.’ And while juice hacking isn’t extremely common, it’s gaining in popularity amongst criminals.
So, whether you are traveling this holiday season or anytime soon, there are plenty of ways to get your phone the battery boost it needs while keeping your information safe and secure. The most convenient and probably the most obvious solution would be to carry your own external charger. Other options include bringing your own charging cable and plugging it into an AC outlet or purchasing a USB blocker to use at the public charging stations. The USB blocker disables the data pin when it is plugged into a USB cable, preventing the data being transferred through the charging cable and turning the public charging cable into a charge only. And finally, if you get an alert on your phone asking if you want to trust this device- disconnect your phone immediately.
Here at Extract, we know that personal information ‘lives’ in so many places and in different forms. That’s why we have worked with over 400 state and local governments to redact sensitive PII on documents. Please reach out today if you would like to learn more. We wish you a safe and happy holiday season!
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About the Author: Taylor Genter
Taylor is the Marketing Specialist at Extract with experience in data analytics, graphic design, and both digital and social media marketing. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater. Taylor enjoys analyzing people’s behaviors and attitudes to find out what motivates them, and then curating better ways to communicate with them.