Malicious charging cables look exactly like normal ones. The cable is the clearest example. looks like a standard Apple Lightning or USB-C cable. a hidden chip inside gives an attacker remote access to your device the moment you plug it in. what it can do: — log every keystroke... — inject commands as if someone is typing on your keyboard — exfiltrate files — open a remote shell — operate over WiFi from up to 300 feet away you cannot tell by looking at it. the chip is inside the cable housing. no visible difference. Hak5(Hak5) sells them commercially at $120-$180. They've been found at conference floors. hotel lobbies. left near charging stations in airports. given away as "free" promotional items at events. Never plug a cable you didn't buy sealed from a reputable retailer. never borrow a charging cable from a stranger. ever. if you need to charge using an unknown cable: use a USB data blocker. it's a small pass-through device that allows power but blocks data pins entirely. costs under $10. fits on a keychain. if you need to share a cable at a conference: use a power-only cable. no data pins at all. physically cannot transmit anything other than charge.show more

I keep my phone private, Bluetooth is always off, location tracking, etc. but the other day I plugged my cable directly into a newer car with a usb port and I saw all of my info come up on their computer screen, without any permissions given, I was simply trying to charge it.

Would love to see manufacturers making the cable connector housing clear plastic as a standard. It gives the customer a better chance of determining if a malicious chip hides in the housing.

used to cost 20K a cable... now it's 200$

If you have extra USB cables around that you want to turn into "charge only", carefully slice into the cable and expose the four wires. Cut the white and green wires which are for data. Leave the red and black. Depending on phone this may prevent high speed charging because some phones require the data lines to identify the charger type. I'm also seeing more and more devices come with the charge only cables by default. I recently bought an air quality monitor that charges with USB-C. When I tested the cable it was charge only. I would speculate the charge only cables are cheaper to manufacture due to the missing data pair.

Which data blocker? The random most popular Chinese ones on amazon?

@grok verify this cable exists and how it works. Can you identify a hack or how many hacks, roughly, have been identified?

Someone's going to sell usb data stealers as data blockers. Phones transmit data to anything, receive all the time. What's the issue? I suppose depends on who the theives are. Poisen all the data? Just as shredding docs, someone else reassemble it. Mugs race, be data careful.

Cotton Mouth cables have the added function of being able to override the PD negotiation over the CC pins. So a remote attacker can fry your device(voltage regulator) via over voltage.

You'll also find hidden chips within power strips and extra-outlet plug-ins. Not sure about pop-ups.

MagSafe charger

My S26 defaults to "USB charging only"when any cable is connected, you have to tell it to even allow file share or any other access. Older devices may not do that. Be careful out there folks.

This is why I never use chargers and cables that are not mine. Not in cars not on airplane and not outlets.

I'm scared and impressed

Honestly

“Pay The 🔌 In Polygon, I Just Bought A Data Blocker”

Trying to put that in every single one of the ones they send over here or even one in a thousand

This is why the iPads, iPhones and M-series laptop Macs default to zero data allowed over USB until the user is actually logged in. The actual implementation is more complicated than stated above, and covers all the gotchas that have probably occurred to you at this point. Desktop Macs do not have this feature at this time.

Yea they are all Walmart and Dollar Stores sell and all airports port charging docks are infected

For Apple users, you can use your major devices, MacBook, iPad as a battery bank. Apple has supported this for years on Macs, and it expanded to iPhone and iPad once they switched to USB-C. MacBooks (macOS) USB-C ports on MacBook Air/Pro models have long been able to output power. Plug an iPhone (or AirPods, Watch charger, etc.) into a Mac with a USB-C cable and the Mac will charge the other device from its own battery (or from wall power if the Mac is plugged in). • The Mac generally needs to be on (or at least not fully shut down). • Output is typically in the 7.5–15W range depending on the Mac model and how many devices are connected. • This is the same behavior you get when you plug an iPhone into a Mac for data transfer — it charges at the same time. iPhone (iOS) — iPhone 15 and later USB-C iPhones (15, 16, 17 series, including the 17 Pro Max) can act as a small power bank. Apple officially documents that an iPhone 15 or later can supply up to 4.5 watts via USB-C to: • AirPods / AirPods Pro (USB-C case) • Apple Watch (using the Magnetic Fast Charger to USB-C cable, or a Magnetic cable + USB-C adapter) • Another USB-C phone or small accessory • An older Lightning iPhone or iPad (USB-C to Lightning cable) Just plug in the cable. There is no extra setting to enable. Charging starts automatically. 4.5W is slow for another phone but useful for topping up AirPods or a Watch in a pinch. It will drain the source iPhone’s battery. There is no wireless reverse charging (no MagSafe-to-MagSafe sharing). iPad (iPadOS) — USB-C models Most recent iPads (Pro, Air, mini, and 10th-gen and later standard iPads) work the same way and are more practical because of the larger battery. Apple’s support page explicitly says you can use an iPad to charge: • An iPhone • Another iPad • Apple Watch • Other USB devices Connect with the appropriate cable (USB-C to USB-C, or USB-C to Lightning). When you connect two USB-C iPads, one will draw power from the other. Unplugging and reconnecting the cable can sometimes reverse which one is the source.

Pbd is a filthy zionist with suicidal empathy