Nowadays, most public gathering places like airports, malls and sports stadiums have USB charging stations so you can power up your phone if your battery is running low. But are public phone charging stations safe?
You’ve probably already read or seen a news story warning you about the dangers of “juice jacking” – the process of hacking or pushing malware onto a phone – from public charging stations. In reality, the risk of getting your phone hacked and your data stolen or a malware infection is incredibly low. There have been little-to-no actual documented cases of attackers weaponizing public charging stations. That’s because our phones (especially iPhones) come with built-in data protection which, along with maintaining your security updates, goes a long way in keeping you safe. Furthermore, in order to hack a charging station, the attacker would need to install malicious hardware into the station without being noticed – which is essentially impossible in a place as crowded as a shopping mall.
While the risk of juice jacking is extremely low, not all phone charging stations are created equal. The phone charging stations that feature dangling charging cables are the ones that you have to watch out for the most. With a floor standing charging station, you’re more likely to be tempted to leave your phone unattended, exposing your phone to potential thieves.
Another issue with some charging stations is that they require a credit card swipe – which, again, exposes the risk of credit card fraud or unknown fees.
To keep your data safe while using a public charging station, we recommend plugging your phone into a USB port that you can trust. ChargeItSpot is the trusted charging solution for some of the biggest retail brands, hospitals, and sports arenas. Our phone charging lockers allow you to plug in your phone, use our two-step digital security system (password + security image ID), and simply walk away until you’re ready to pick up your phone again. At retrieval, re-enter your password, select your security image, and the individual locker compartment door will open automatically so you can pick up your phone.
In addition to these basic security measures, our charging lockers are built like tanks. The charging kiosk’s housing is made of ultra-sturdy 14 gauge steel, and the locker doors feature 16 gauge steel and a lock with a holding force of over 1,300 pounds! Our USB ports are secured behind that steel housing and are inaccessible to any form of tampering, thereby crushing any threat of juice jacking.
What’s more, our charging stations deliver not only the most efficient charge to each phone, they also restrict any data transfer with a one-directional charge (power only, no data sync possible thanks to our patented OptiCharge® technology).
The final layer of security our charging stations offer is our patented 24/7 security system which monitors the kiosks for theft or inadvertent lock-outs. The built-in security camera ensures that the owner of each phone is the only one who can retrieve it.
In the end, the dangers of the public phone charging station are usually overblown but it’s better to be safe than sorry. To that end, we’ve prioritized data security since day one and we believe our continuously expanding presence across leading big box retail stores and our growing popularity amongst consumers supports our tagline, The Trusted Charging Solution.
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