WARNING: Be careful when charging phones in public areas – you could be hacked!

A WARNING message was issued this week via Twitter by the Spanish National Police suggesting people take caution when charging their mobile phones with public USB’s as the device could be hacked.
By using these public cables, mobile users are opening the door to possible hackers and allowing them to access private information and even install malicious software.
An external battery, which allows users to safely charge their mobile’s battery, could be the solution to the problem or to turn off the device before using a public USB cable in attempts to avoid potential hacks.
Another recommended option is to use a personal cord for the exclusive purpose of charging the device and that does not allow data to be transferred, as do most of the public USB’s.
These potential hacks are not exclusive to public cables, they can also access mobile phones when connected to computers.

Tu #smartphone no ha parado de funcionar en todo el día y ya casi no le queda batería🔋… ⚠️Mucho ojo donde lo cargas, algunos #USB públicos podrían robarte información de tu dispositivo📱 pic.twitter.com/0GpRQcJIFz

— Policía Nacional (@policia) February 25, 2019