When you get anew phonenowadays, typically, the only thing included in the box with it is an officialcharging cable. Hold that cable near and dear to you because it’s possible third-party charging cables may pose a risk to your phone’s security.
The electronics inside aUSB-C cableare so small that hackers can alter it and put a malicious chip inside without anyone knowing the wiser. Lumafield’sJon Brunerproves this onXand has posted high-quality CT scans of a compromised USB-C cable.Lumafieldoffers CT scanning solutions for engineering teams with popular brands such as Bauer, Puma, Ninja and Milwaukee.
Using Lumafield’s CT scanners, Bruner scanned a USB-C cable called the O.MG cable byMike Grover, a security researcher and malicious hardware expert. The results of Bruner’s CT scan on the cable are truly terrifying.
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What damage could a malicious cable do?
It could execute malware on your device
As you can see in the post above, the CT scan reveals the O.MG cable containing a microprocessor and an antenna that could be used for malicious activities, and the scary part is, on the outside, it looks exactly like the Amazon Basics USB-C charging cable. The O.MG cable still works as a regular USB-C cable; it can transfer data and charge your devices. However, the hidden chips inside could power malicious activities, such as a keylogger, which records everything you’ve typed on your device.
The secret antenna attached to the chip also means these malicious activities could be executed over Wi-Fi. It’s even possible for these chips to extract data from your device or remotely access it. The O.MG cable Bruner scanned is used for research purposes, but it’s an example of how it’s possible for something as simple as a charging cable to be a threat to your device. Any hacker with the knowledge and resources could develop a cable like this.
Obviously, this doesn’t mean that every third-party charging cable on the market poses a security threat to your device; there aregood third-party brandsout there, like Anker, Aukey and UGREEN. But, what can be done to prevent unwillingly coming in contact with a compromised cable? Bruner recommends sticking to reputable cables and avoiding using public charging stations. If you have an iPhone, it’s easiest to use Apple’s official cables. If you have an Android phone, stick to its official accessories from companies like Google and Samsung.
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