Centre urges citizens to be careful while using public phone charging stations

"Cyber criminals may use USB charging portals installed at public places such as airports, cafes, hotels, bus stand atc for malicious activities," Indian Computer Emergency Response Team said in its post on X.

It warned users that charging electronic devices at infected charging stations can lead to juice-jacking cyber attack.

What is juice-jacking?

As per the Federal Communications Commission website, "If your battery is running low, be aware that juicing up your electronic device at free USB port charging stations, such as those found in airports and hotel lobbies, might have unfortunate consequences. You could become a victim of "juice jacking," yet another cyber-theft tactic."

"Cybersecurity experts warn that bad actors can load malware onto public USB charging stations to maliciously access electronic devices while they are being charged. Malware installed through a corrupted USB port can lock a device or export personal data and passwords directly to the perpetrator. Criminals can then use that information to access online accounts or sell it to other bad actors," the website said.

Best practices to prevent juice jacking

Think twice before plugging into public charging stations or portable wall chargers.

Use an Electric Wall outlet to charge your mobile device.

Try to carry your own personal cable or power banks.

Lock your mobile device and disable pairing with a connected device.

Try to charge our phone when it is in switched off state.