Nowadays charging in public charging stations raises our eyebrows in fear of some untoward things which we have never thought of before. Do you guess why? Because mobile charging stations are the ideal place for hackers.

So, how do they turn harmful? Usually, when our phone is low on the battery we prefer to go to charging stations for recharge. But, unfortunately, research has shown that these places turn into ideal places for hackers to apply potentially harmful tools to their victims.

Just because these charging stations are designed for easy charging that does not mean, that they are super safe to use. These places are turned malicious by hackers as they often plant malware codes and steal data and vital documents from anyone who uses them. It is popularly known as juice jacking.

Are they safe from theft?

Though mobile charging stations on the market are independently safety tested and certified, Cyber criminals can steal your valuable data through charging stations at public spaces like railway stations, and airports. Online fraud, involves stealing data, which may include financial, personal, or medical data, whenever a person plugs his device for charging into an unverified USB port, by hacking called juice jacking, mentioned earlier.

Are they safe from data hacking?

No, they are not. Charging stations are one of the most common places where data hacking is done by professional hackers. Cyber security experts often strictly warn people to use public charging stations criminals often load malware into public charging stations to access all the data from electronic devices. So if you have financial and other personal data on your phone, then you should strictly avoid using public charging stations.

Can your phone get damaged by a charging station?

Your mobile phone can go through substantial damage if you charge your phone at a public charging station. Not only your data and personal information will be at risk but your phone’s software can get damaged too. Certain unknown viruses can get into your smartphone causing substantial damage.

However, juice jacking is considered a potential but one can protect their smartphone from substantial damage because most phones today are built in such a way that they ask for permission every time data transfer is initiated. So if the user is careful while charging the phone and denies any data transfer message, the hacking will be stopped.

How to know whether your phone is hacked at the charging station or not?

Hacked charging devices have the following signs:

• A rapid loss of charging a percentage in the mobile. This indicates that a malicious app might be working in the background.
• If the phone is getting heated up suddenly.
• The mobile device has slowed down suddenly and often gets hanged.
• If you see certain changes to the phone’s settings which is not done by you.
• Abnormal or increased data usage.

Conclusion

Though mobile charging stations might look very beneficial in the first place, the reality is they are not quite safe to use. Even if you are charging your mobile at a public charging station, you need to be very careful. The best is to carry your own power back for emergencies.