{"id":19582,"date":"2013-08-02T08:30:50","date_gmt":"2013-08-02T13:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/?p=19582"},"modified":"2014-05-22T13:24:12","modified_gmt":"2014-05-22T18:24:12","slug":"be-careful-where-you-plug-that-usb-cable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/19582-be-careful-where-you-plug-that-usb-cable\/","title":{"rendered":"Be Careful Where You Plug that USB Cable."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Globe-Shield-USB\"<\/a>I really like my iPhone 5, but it feels like it\u2019s always running low on power and I\u2019m rushing to find an outlet so I can plug it in. Most of the time, I either plug it into the Power2U<\/a> we have in our studio, a standard wall outlet with the little plug that came with the phone, or into my laptop. I\u2019ve never been in the habit of plugging my iPhone (or any devices of mine) into any USB port I don\u2019t have direct knowledge of.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, my minor paranoia may have been a pretty good instinct. According to a recent Reuters article<\/a>, there\u2019s apparently an exploit in iOS 6 (and probably earlier) that allows a computer connected to an iPhone (ostensibly via a \u201cfake charging station\u201d) to actually take over and control the phone. In theory, this could be extended out to being able to inject some sort of \u201cvirus\u201d into your iPhone, giving ne’er-do-wells remote access to your information.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, the jury is still out on exactly how likely this scenario is to actually exist in the real world (probably somewhere between \u201ccompletely non-existant\u201d to \u201cthey\u2019re all out to get you\u201d) and reports are that this particular exploit has already been patched in the latest preview release of iOS 7. However, it\u2019s still<\/em> not particularly wise to simply go plugging your iPhone into random USB slots like… umm… I can\u2019t really think of a workplace-appropriate analogy here, but you get the idea.<\/p>\n

Still, if Murphy<\/a> has anything to say about it, there will <\/i>be a time where you\u2019re running on 1% battery and the only place to plug in your iPhone is some dubious \u201ccharging station\u201d in a seedy-looking coffee shop or pub. If you find yourself in this sort of predicament, there is <\/i>a way to protect yourself – you just need a USB cable that only allows charging and prevents data connection.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The NewerTech Sync Switch USB Extension Cable<\/a> is just such a cable. If you need to charge via USB and you don\u2019t want to risk a data connection, all you have to do is move a small switch, and the USB data connections are cut off while still allowing full power to continue uninterrupted.<\/strong> What\u2019s more is that it works with your existing charge\/sync cable, so no matter what device you have (iPhone, iPad, iPod, or even non-Apple phones and tablets), if you can charge it via USB, it\u2019ll work with the Sync Switch cable.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the degree of real-world risk that exploits like these present can be debated, it sure wouldn\u2019t hurt to have a little extra protection, just in case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I really like my iPhone 5, but it feels like it\u2019s always running low on power and I\u2019m rushing to find an outlet so I can plug it in. Most of the time, I either plug it into the Power2U we have in our studio, a standard wall outlet with the little plug that came […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":19585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"class_list":["post-19582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-tips"],"yoast_head":"\nBe Careful Where You Plug that USB Cable.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An exploit in iOS 6 could allow a computer connected to an iPhone to take over the phone - the NewerTech Sync Switch USB Extension Cable allows charging and prevents data connection to protect your data.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/19582-be-careful-where-you-plug-that-usb-cable\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Be Careful Where You Plug that USB Cable.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An exploit in iOS 6 could allow a computer connected to an iPhone to take over the phone - 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