With the advent of smartphones, we’ve been inflicted with a disease called low-batteritis. Anyone who has a smartphone knows how unreliable it is to depend on your phone to last an entire day without needing to get recharged again, even for a bit. Most move about with a USB charger for just such a situation. But if you thought that was the end of worries for a smartphone owner, think again. When you plug in your smartphone via USB charger to someone else’s computer or laptop, you run the risk of malware making their way to your smartphone. Even in the case of charging kiosks at public places, you run the risk of malware and data theft thanks to 'juice jacking', where a hidden computer steals data or installs malware while the user thinks the phone is just charging. This is especially the case with devices which do not alert the user about a PC connection. So what is one supposed to do then? Not charge the phone? Well, believe it or not, people are thinking of a solution to this. Enter Int3.cc, a bunch of developers who have come up with a splendid concept with an even more splendid name called USBCondoms. The device latches on to your USB charger to avoid accidental data exchange between your phone and other devices, when it's being charged.
Sounds confusing? It’s actually pretty simple. The USB condom on your charger cuts off the data pins in the USB cable and allows only the power pins to connect through. So when you hook your smartphone on to a PC, it will only charge the phone without so much as detecting its presence to facilitate a data transfer. We’ve come to a stage where even our smartphones are not safe without a condom. Essentially when you’re hooking up your smartphone with a strange wo… er… charging port, you need not worry about infections, and can enjoy full battery by the end of the session. The website says that it has currently run out of stock, but will be receiving a new batch today.
(Cover image credit: Getty Images)
Here's how the USBCondom works
Sounds confusing? It’s actually pretty simple. The USB condom on your charger cuts off the data pins in the USB cable and allows only the power pins to connect through. So when you hook your smartphone on to a PC, it will only charge the phone without so much as detecting its presence to facilitate a data transfer. We’ve come to a stage where even our smartphones are not safe without a condom. Essentially when you’re hooking up your smartphone with a strange wo… er… charging port, you need not worry about infections, and can enjoy full battery by the end of the session. The website says that it has currently run out of stock, but will be receiving a new batch today.
(Cover image credit: Getty Images)
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