The TSA says don't plug into airport USB ports, but experts call the threat overblown. A cheap fix still makes sense for anyone who travels with a phone.
Charging your phone at an airport USB port is reasonably safe, according to security researchers. Still, the TSA has told travelers not to do it, and avoiding the risk costs very little. The worry is called "juice-jacking," where a rigged public charger tries to install malware or steal data from a phone.
In a March 2025 Facebook post, the TSA said: "When you're at an airport do not plug your phone directly into a USB port." It advised travelers to bring their own power brick or battery pack instead. The FBI has also warned against public USB charging.
Not everyone agreed on how big the danger is. The FCC published its own juice-jacking warning, then withdrew it after tech experts disputed the extent of the threat. In 2019, the Los Angeles County district attorney warned about it, then confirmed it had no cases on its books.
The risk comes from how USB works. One cable carries both power and data, on separate internal pins. In theory, an attacker could tamper with a public charging point so it reaches the data side of your cable.
This has been shown in demonstrations. At the Black Hat USA conference in 2013, Georgia Tech researchers presented a malicious charger prototype called Mactans. It could infect an iPhone running iOS 6. Security pros say there are no credible reports of a successful real-world attack.
iPhone owners have some built-in help. After the Mactans demo, Apple added the "Trust This Computer?" prompt. It appears when a device you plug into wants to set up a data connection. If it shows up at a charging port, tap "Don't Trust" unless you actually mean to share data. The risk is small, but it is not zero, and it applies to anyone using public USB ports at airports, hotels and similar places.
The steps in the alert box above cover the simple fixes. Your own charger or a battery pack avoids the problem entirely. A data blocker is a small, inexpensive dongle that lets power through but stops data. One catch: blockers for the older, rectangular USB-A ports prevent fast charging, so your phone charges more slowly. Modern USB-C blockers do not have that issue.
Some public spots offer "Secure" charge points that block data transfer entirely. Those can also work where available. The usual travel habits still matter too: avoid public Wi-Fi for sensitive information, install the latest software updates and turn on multi-factor authentication for important accounts.
Public USB ports are probably fine, but your own charger, a battery pack or a data blocker removes the risk, and "Don't Trust" is the right tap.
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