It happened to us all at least once that our battery or tablet suddenly discharged, leaving our charging cable at home. In such situations, we all resort to borrowing someone else's charger to keep our cell phone battery alive for at least a short time. You probably think you are not doing any harm to your device, but if you borrow a charger, say from another airport passenger or your hotel receptionist, it can be very dangerous, cybersecurity experts say.
Certain things simply do not lend - claims Charles Henderson, head of security at IBM.
If you were on an excursion and realized you forgot to pack your laundry, you certainly wouldn't ask other travelers to lend you laundry. you would already go to the store and buy a new one, ”he explained.
Henderson also runs a team of hackers hired by clients to break into their computer systems to access their vulnerable data. Because hackers have designed how to implement malware that can remotely hijack data from devices and computers into charging cables, his team sometimes teaches clients tricks on how to avoid dangerous 'digital behavior'.
At an annual DEF CON hacking conference in Las Vegas or a so-called 'hack summer camp', one hacker demonstrated an iPhone lightning rod that had been modified. After using the cable to connect the iPod to the Mac, he remotely accessed the cable's IP address and took control of the Mac. The enterprising hacker had a stock of so-called O.MG cables that he sold for $ 200 apiece.
The technology is really small and inexpensive. It may be so small that it looks like a regular cable, but it has the ability and intelligence to set up malware. This kind of technology will only be made cheaper, and it is not something that the average consumer will follow to know when it will become truly dangerous.
We have witnessed several cases where people have modified filling cells. We are not talking about an electrical outlet, but USB charging jacks available in public places - he explained, adding that you should pay attention to what you plug into your devices because it is good but also important technical hygiene. Forbes writes.
Sharing cables is like sharing a password. Many travelers know that there will often be a drawer at the hotel reception desk with charging cables that guests have forgotten to take with them. However, do not give up and buy a new charger rather than jeopardize your data.
