BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Cyber criminals continue to evolve and a common device at airports could cause problems for anyone who uses a smart phone or tablet at an airport.
One of Vishwanath's common sayings in his field is that "common sense is not that common" and noted that even connecting to a WiFi network could put any of your devices at risk.
"The dangerous part of today's hacking is that the people who are doing it don't require a lot of sophistication," he said. "You can use (the malware) to create an attack. All you need to do at the front end of it is create a USB hub or a WiFi network."
Vishwanath said people aren't doing enough to protect themselves and advises you to take protections like not plugging into a USB charging point already has a wire.
"Use your own wire and plug it into a power port of your own," he said. "If you have to plug it into a USB charger at the airport, for instance, they sell something called a USB condom. What that does is kill the data line of it. You can buy them on Amazon for like $6. They work better than people realize."
Despite the numerous vulnerabilities in today's technologies, Vishwanath said the low-skilled or even the average hacker cannot get access to your device. He said the recent hack of WhatsApp was done by sophisticated hackers.
Vishwanath has written a number of pieces and spoken to schools about technology education and cyber-security. He's currently working on a book on how to understand human/cyber risk.