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Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard
If you connect your devices to anything public, be it wireless or wired Internet, or USB power charging stations, it is best to assume that these are not safe. While you can protect your data in several ways, e.g. by using a VPN when you need to access the Internet while connected to a public or untrusted network, it is sometimes the case that simple things are overlooked. In November 2019, Los Angeles' District Attorney's Office published an advisory to travelers about the potential dangers of public USB ports. These ports could be used for an attack that has been called juice-jacking. Juice Jacking basically allows attackers to steal data or infect devices that unsuspecting people plug into specifically prepared USB power stations. The Distrcit[sic] Attorney's Office recommended that travelers use AC power outlets directly, use portable chargers, or charge devices in cars instead of using public USB chargers. While that is sound advice, it may not be possible sometimes to use these alternatives. That's where the Original USB Condom comes into play.
Source: https://www.ghacks.net/2019/12/09/usb-condoms-are-a-thing-now/
Is "juice jacking" really a thing though? Have any of you soylentils out there actually seen a rogue USB plug in the wild?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 13 2019, @03:49PM (2 children)
This sounds like just a very short "Charge-only" cable instead of a "Charge-and-Sync" cable. Alternative possibility - just bring a charge-only cable and use that everywhere that's not your actual personal computer. They also have the benefit of keeping your phone from taking over your stereo if you use them in your car.
(Score: 2) by legont on Friday December 13 2019, @05:42PM (1 child)
Why don't they mark the cables separately... Say red and black. Should one patent this?
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Saturday December 14 2019, @12:02PM
Make one of the plugs just big enough to have a little hardware switch on it. Label the positions Data and Charge. In Charge position it shorts the data pins together.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.