Charging one smartphone through computer is probably one of the most common means of charging, but experts are now warning that this relatively innocent act is enough to get your phone hacked.
According to Mirror, the researchers from Kaspersky Lab, an international software security group says that plugging your iPhone or Android devices into a computer causes an exchange of huge amount of data between the two devices.
The data includes information i.e. phone's name, manufacturer, device type, serial number, firmware information, and more importantly operating system information, the file system and electronic chip ID.
This could include the phone's name, the manufacturer, the device type, the serial number, firmware information, the operating system information, the file system and the electronic chip ID.
According to The Inquirer, such an exchange of information might seem harmless, but it is enough for a hacker to break into a smartphone and take control, according to Kaspersky. Therefore, charging your smartphone via your own computer could pose a risk to your personal data.
"Now that smartphones almost always accompany their owner, the device serves as a unique identifier for any third party who might be interested in collecting such data for some subsequent use," Kaspersky said.
Alexey Komarov, a researcher at Kaspersky, warned, "The security risks here are obvious: if you’re a regular user you can be tracked through your device IDs; your phone could be silently packed with anything from adware to ransomware; and, if you’re a decision-maker in a big company, you could easily become the target of professional hackers.”
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