What is a juice-jacking attack? How can we be safe from such attacks?

With our smartphones always doing something for us these days, including simple tasks such as watching the news online, listening to music, and making calls, it is normal for these tiny devices to run out of battery after just a couple of hours. While at home or the office, we can quickly charge our smartphones; the problem arises when we are out for a snack at a cafe, airport, or railway station. We can effortlessly recharge these devices thanks to the public sockets and USB ports.

But beware, charging your smartphone at public USB outlets can make you regret it for the rest of your life, at worst. This can happen if someone carries out a juice-jacking attack. Juice-jacking attack is no longer a dystopian concept but is a harsh reality. What is a juice-jacking attack? How can it impact you, and how can you keep your smartphone safe from such attacks? Here’s juice-jacking explained.

What is a juice-jacking attack?

In a juice-jacking attack, cybercriminals exploit the publicly available USB charging ports, and when regular users try charging their smartphones using these USB ports, the devices are compromised, and your privacy can be at risk. 

The attackers can potentially get access to or even steal all types of personal details. These personal details include everything from the user’s contacts to app data, photos, videos, and everything else at the user level.

If stealing data doesn’t scare you, maybe it is because the device is new or you use secure cloud apps to store sensitive data. The attacker can also install malware that constantly monitors your activities on the device, your location, whom you call, and so on.

As we all use apps like Google Pay, PhonePe, or other banking apps, the attacker can even install remote access apps or apps that can read SMS messages that include sensitive information like OTPs and track your banking transactions.

The Computer Emergency Response Team or CERT-In, a body under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, has issued a warning in this regard after identifying the seriousness of the situation and how this tricky cyber attack can victimize innocent users who simply want a few extra hours to use their smartphones on the go.

CERT-In has also stated some simple ways to avoid such attacks, and I will discuss them, along with some other ways, shortly.

Juice-jacking attack prevention

Now that you know about the juice-jacking attack, here are some simple yet powerful ways to keep yourself and your devices safe from such an attack.

1. Use a power bank

If you travel often and keep using your phone outdoors because you are a little introvert or just that way, and you get the ‘Low Battery’ message, you better get a power bank. A run-of-the-mill power bank from a reputed company is a good investment, and you will no longer have to control your smartphone usage outdoors or need to rely on public USB ports for charging.

2. Use a regular power socket.

Thankfully, power bricks have a universal USB or Type-C output these days. If you have enough room in your backpack, carry a power brick to charge your smartphone. If you use an AC power outlet, attackers can’t carry out a juice-jacking attack. Just go to Amazon, and you will find GaN chargers from popular brands that keep your devices safe and charge your phone at rated speeds or at least faster than these USB ports.

3. Use only charging cable

Instead of using the cable provided by your manufacturer to charge your device and transfer data, get a USB cable that can only charge your device. These cables are often available at cheaper rates than those that double as a data cable. These cables are usually provided when purchasing earphones, TWS, speakers, etc., and do not have data transfer capabilities. If you are still not sure, connect your smartphone to a PC or laptop and check whether you can use it for data transfer to be sure.

While these are precautions you can prepare beforehand, what if you have a USB charging cable and nothing else? You have no other option but to use a public USB port; however, here are more precautions for you.

4. Check the ports for physical tampering.

Places or institutions that offer these USB ports for convenience don’t have reasons to carry out such attacks. In most cases, the attackers tamper with the USB ports to carry out such attacks. Check for any physical tampering around the USB ports; if you find one, avoid using that port.

5. Use software-based protection

Disable USB Debugging on your smartphone if enabled, and ensure that your phone is set to charging only after connecting to the USB port. That way, the operating system will restrict data transfer from being carried out through your smartphone’s USB port. Most devices these days will automatically set the smartphone to charging-only mode; if it is not set by default, set it manually. However, it is a software feature, and you can’t ensure your smartphone isn’t shaking hands with the USB port through the data pins. Hence, it is not a foolproof solution against juice-jacking attacks.

Android 15 lockdown mode will also restrict the USB port to charging the device only, which can again offer theoretical protection against juice-jacking attacks.

6. Keep your smartphone locked or switched off while charging

When a smartphone is locked, data transfer is restricted, and you can check this on your laptop or computer. However, if your smartphone is unlocked while connecting the charger, you are in danger, as the small duration before you lock your phone can be enough for the attacker to deploy the payload.

You’d better switch your phone off while charging. When a phone is switched off, data transfer is restricted entirely, and attackers can’t carry out any attack on it. Not using the phone will also charge your smartphone faster.

However, if you charge your smartphone using a public USB port, it might be too late, even after taking all the precautions. This is because of the sweet combination of readily available software tools that can exploit our smartphone’s security and inexpensive, easy-to-get hardware kits that even an unskilled guy can deploy.

So, that’s all about juice-jacking attacks, and you must know if you often need to charge your phone outdoors. Do you have any questions? Feel free to comment below.