3 ms·

Can you elaborate on this? What kind of phone? Android or iOS? Fully patched? What kind of infection? How did you discover it? How did you get rid of it?

kevviiinn 4y ago
I bet their iphone was running android
- Alupis 4y ago
  There have been many jailbreaks available that only required plugging the phone in and running some program on the other end of the cable. There's been jailbreaks where all you needed to do was visit a website... Apple's security isn't as bullet-proof as some make it out to be. So, is it plausible a malicious charging station could gain root and sideload something nefarious on an iPhone? Absolutely. Particularly for non-tech-savvy folks desperate to get a charge before their connecting flight... Has it happened? ...No idea. I guess that's where the anecdotes come in...
  - kevviiinn 4y ago
    My point was that the person who made the comment stating that they had an iPhone, the person I'm replying to went on to ask them if they had iOS or android
    - Alupis 4y ago
      Good point, I missed that bit upstream. My general point about how easy it can be to maliciously root someone's device stands, so I will leave my comment as-is. Folks - don't plug your devices into untrusted USB ports...
  - ghostpepper 4y ago
    It’s been many years since I rooted (or even owned) an android phone but is there really no interaction from the user required beyond plugging it in? On iOS there’s a pop up asking if you want to trust the computer, and that’s after you’ve unlocked the screen
    - kevviiinn 4y ago
      Usually it requires enabling developer mode and enabling USB adb
    - Alupis 4y ago
      For a non-techy, the hurdles you just described are an annoyance in the way of getting a quick charge - not obvious security issues. After all, this charging station is operated by the amusement park/airport/conference/whatever... if it asks you to approve it why not? And yes, in the past many iOS jailbreaks were shockingly simple. The website one in particular - you went to a URL and clicked a button... your phone rebooted and was jailbroken.

kevviiinn 4y ago

I bet their iphone was running android

Alupis 4y ago
There have been many jailbreaks available that only required plugging the phone in and running some program on the other end of the cable. There's been jailbreaks where all you needed to do was visit a website... Apple's security isn't as bullet-proof as some make it out to be. So, is it plausible a malicious charging station could gain root and sideload something nefarious on an iPhone? Absolutely. Particularly for non-tech-savvy folks desperate to get a charge before their connecting flight... Has it happened? ...No idea. I guess that's where the anecdotes come in...
- kevviiinn 4y ago
  My point was that the person who made the comment stating that they had an iPhone, the person I'm replying to went on to ask them if they had iOS or android
  - Alupis 4y ago
    Good point, I missed that bit upstream. My general point about how easy it can be to maliciously root someone's device stands, so I will leave my comment as-is. Folks - don't plug your devices into untrusted USB ports...
- ghostpepper 4y ago
  It’s been many years since I rooted (or even owned) an android phone but is there really no interaction from the user required beyond plugging it in? On iOS there’s a pop up asking if you want to trust the computer, and that’s after you’ve unlocked the screen
  - kevviiinn 4y ago
    Usually it requires enabling developer mode and enabling USB adb
  - Alupis 4y ago
    For a non-techy, the hurdles you just described are an annoyance in the way of getting a quick charge - not obvious security issues. After all, this charging station is operated by the amusement park/airport/conference/whatever... if it asks you to approve it why not? And yes, in the past many iOS jailbreaks were shockingly simple. The website one in particular - you went to a URL and clicked a button... your phone rebooted and was jailbroken.