The FBI is warning you not to use public charging stations to juice up your phone. This includes airports and hotels. It's because hackers can do harm to your phone and it's called juice jacking.
New Braunfels technology culture journalist Omar Gallaga says it doesn't matter whether you bring your own cord or not. The issue is that the software that runs the charging station could be infected with malware.
"Some charging stations have software and screens that welcome you or offer entertainment while you are charging. They're similar to computers. There are other ways the hardware could get infected, similar to a skimmer on a gas station pump. There is some software at a lot of these charging stations" says Gallaga.
The software can do very bad things. "It can install malware where people can monitor what you're doing on your phone, it can steal data, it can disable your phone and take charge of your phone where someone can control it remotely" says Gallaga.
He says instead bring your own portable charger. Those are fine to use at charging stations. Power your phone off once it's done charging from the public station.
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