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Doha: The Denver Office of the FBI warned consumers this month that hackers were tampering with public charging USB ports in places such as airports.
Hackers, according to the FBI circular, could be using these ports to hijack information and even track devices. Malware installed through a corrupted USB can lock a device or export personal data and passwords directly to a criminal.
This method of stealing private user data is also quite prevalent, with enterprise performance management solution Honeywell Forge noting that 52% of cyber threats come through malware designed to take advantage of a USB connection.
A USB cable typically contains four wires; two being responsible for power, while the other two are for carrying data. USB 1.0, introduced in 1995, enabled file transfer through at about 12 Mbps (megabytes per second), but the latest super speed USB types of today can transfer up to 40 Gbps (gigabytes per second).
Earlier this year, Arab News reported that 42 ransomware attacks were carried out in the past 12 months on various companies in the Gulf region.
The newspaper quoted a cybersecurity firm official warning that ransomware was likely to be the biggest threat for businesses and governments globally in 2023.
Speaking to The Peninsula in March, First Lietuenant Jassim of the Economic and Cyber Crimes Prevention Department at the Ministry of Interior in Qatar said that there was “an increase in the number of user who may become victims of cyber risks.”
These cyber risks include hacking, fraud, blackmail, sexual exploitation of children, and spreading rumors.
