topic Re: Think again about sharing that used tissue ... in Industry News

Think again about sharing that used tissue ...

Flyslinger2 — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 13:44:15 GMT

o.k. I admit that I used a little bit of sensationalism in the title.

As demonstrated last week at the DEF CON Hacking conference (I would love to go to that!) it is highly recommended that you not share a charging cable with someone else. An excellent scenario is the first class area of a plane. There's a good chance that a corporate exec or two are flying first class and how easy would it be to offer your hacked charging cable to them being the "nice guy"!

Charging cubes, power adapters, etc. all are prime targets. Also those silly charging stations at the Metropolitan Art museum in NYC is another perfect example of targets.

Re: Think again about sharing that used tissue ...

Wayne_Evans — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 14:07:25 GMT

This isn't a new problem and there are many solutions. such as

https://int3.cc/products/usbcondoms

However, with all things its up to you and your risk appetite, My phone has wireless charging and lot of public places are supporting wireless charging now...

Re: Think again about sharing that used tissue ...

Shannon — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 16:03:53 GMT

While I always stick to my own cables / chargers & carry a power-bank when on the move, I've assumed the phone's secure if password-protected & configured so that USB file transfer is disabled by default.

If I connect my phone --- an Mi6 --- to a PC's USB port, it defaults to the USB charging mode, and there's no access to storage in Windows Explorer.

You have to enable File Transfer from the phone if you want to transfer files, after which you'll have access.

(I've configured my phone with one password to unlock it & another to access the settings, so enabling File Transfer would require knowing both.)

Interestingly, this article says that when one of the DefCon attendees who claimed that File Transfer was off on his phone connected it to their 'kiosk' it immediately went into File Transfer mode!

Now I'm left wondering whether or not my phone's secure when it comes to juice-jacking via the USB port...

Re: Think again about sharing that used tissue ...

rslade — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 18:58:02 GMT

> Flyslinger2 (Community Champion) posted a new topic in Industry News on

> An excellent scenario is the first class area of a plane. There's a good
> chance that a corporate exec or two are flying first class and how easy would it
> be to offer your hacked charging cable to them being the "nice guy"! Charging
> cubes, power adapters, etc. all are prime targets.

Doesn't even have to be first class. I always made lots of friends in airports (and
train stations, etc.) by having extra extension cords and charging ports ...

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