(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — You might want to think twice before plugging your phone into a public charging station.
It's called juice jacking, and the FBI has issued a warning about a recent trend where hackers use public chargers to infect phones and other devices.
“A hacker can infect the actual plug, so when you put the cord into your device to charge it, there’s a teeny, little storage device there that has malware in it that can infect the cord and then your device,” said Adam Levin, the founder of CyberScout, a cyber insurance agency.
Levin joined the WBBM Noon Business Hour with a few safety suggestions.
“The safest way to deal with it is to use your AC adapter and plug it into a regular wall outlet,” he said. “It’s not quite as convenient, but it is safer.”
He said that while public kiosks aren’t all hiding some kind of malware, the risk of infecting your device is real at any of these charging stations.
When in doubt, Levin said it’s best to stick to your own USB cables.
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