Hey travelers! You all are in a lot of airports and other public places for hours upon hours. Which means you need to charge your phone or tablet for the rest of the trip.
In fact, charging outlets like this might look familiar…
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
Unfortunately, you could be at risk, and we’re here to tell you why.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney released a new report warning the public to not use these ports due to “juice jacking.”
Photo Credit: Needpix
The crime of juice jacking drains your device of your personal information while it’s plugged in for charging.
Cyber-crooks can load the malware onto the ports or simply rip out the real ports and replace them with their own. They can also leave their cables in the ports for unsuspecting travelers to use.
When people use these bad ports, their private information, like bank account logins and personal passwords, is revealed to the scammers.
Photo Credit: Flickr
The good news is that these ports are simple to bypass!
All you have to do to avoid becoming a victim is to use an AC power outlet instead and bring your own wall charger. There are also many types of portable chargers you can buy and carry with you.
For international travel when you can’t use a wall socket, there is even a USB Condom that will protect your phone from draining personal information or loading anything damaging.
Yeah, these are all pretty easy fixes to keep yourself protected from cyber crime. So please do what you need to do to protect yourself.
Happy traveling and stay safe out there!
