Power bank as a data condom?

[impulse]

I'm sitting on a long layover and wanted to charge my cell.  The airport charging ports look so inviting, but I worry that they may be perusing my phone for nefarious purposes.

 

Normally, I save my power bank only for when I need it, when there's no available power. Today I decided to use the power bank between the phone and the airport charger, as a data condom. 

 

I'm hoping the result is keeping the power bank charged up while using it to charge the phone, with no chance my phone's memory is being downloaded and scoured for bank numbers, etc.

 

Is there a flaw in that plan?

 

"Google it" is not a helpful answer since Google is blocked here and Bing returns mostly non-English responses...and it's sloooow.

 

[freeworld]

10 minutes ago, impulse said:

I'm hoping the result is keeping the power bank charged up while using it to charge the phone, with no chance my phone's memory is being downloaded and scoured for bank numbers, etc.

 

Is there a flaw in that plan?

 

How do I protect myself?

The tampering of USB charging stations or USB cables is almost impossible to identify. But there are some simple ways to guard against juice jacking:

• avoid USB power charging stations
• use AC power outlets rather than USB ports
• use a portable battery power bank (your own, not a borrowed one!)
• carry your own charging cable and adapter

[Crossy]

This ^^^

 

A "charge-only" USB cable (it has no data lines) should provide sufficient protection from juice-jacking.

 

 

[Woof999]

Do power banks allow incoming / outgoing charging at the same time? Not sure mine do.

[impulse]

26 minutes ago, Crossy said:

This ^^^

 

A "charge-only" USB cable (it has no data lines) should provide sufficient protection from juice-jacking.

Normally, I carry a data condom (USB-C Male x USB-C Female, with most of the pins blanked).  This trip,  I accidentally bought a ticket with a 4050 baht adder for a checked bag. So I packed light (short trip) and left behind my big bag o' cables, which also normally includes a charge only cable from my shaver, also left behind in favor of a lightweight blade.

 

All I have is a cable to feed the power bank, and one from the power bank to the phone. Hopefully a one time problem.  But a problem this trip.

 

I'd add that, in several airports I frequent (China) the public chargers only have 3 or 4 cables with different tips for USB-C, Micro-USB and Firewire. No 220v available.  That's why I bought  the data condom adapter.

 

Thanks, both for the advice.

 

 

Edited April 22 by impulse

[Crossy]

Just now, Woof999 said:

Do power banks allow incoming / outgoing charging at the same time? Not sure mine do.

 

My el-cheapo one certainly does, the better more expensive ones don't.

[impulse]

Just now, Woof999 said:

Do power banks allow incoming / outgoing charging at the same time? Not sure mine do.

 

So far, it seems to be working. I'll let you know in about 40 minutes when the phone says it'll be fully charged. 

 

I learn something on each trip... Sometimes even useful stuff.

[Woof999]

Just now, impulse said:

I'll let you know in about 40 minutes when the phone says it'll be fully charged. 

 

My power banks give priority to one type of charging. Not sure which way around it is. Your power bank might be charging your phone but not be being charged itself by the wall outlet. No big deal either way.

[Crossy]

IMPORTANT - I just checked my el-cheapo (it may even have been a freebie) power bank which charges and passes power at the same time.

 

IT ALSO PASSES DATA!!!!! 

 

So as a condom, it has a hole!!**

 

** Long ago the Bath Student's Union decided that distributing condoms to students was a smart idea. They stapled them to each issue of the SU mag!!

 

 

[impulse]

5 minutes ago, Crossy said:

IMPORTANT - I just checked my el-cheapo (it may have been a freebie) power bank which charges and passes power at the same time.

 

IT ALSO PASSES DATA!!!!! 

 

So as a condom, it has a hole!!**

 

** Long ago the Bath Student's Union decided that distributing condoms to students was a smart idea. They stapled them to each issue of the SU mag!!

 

That was my fear...

 

Good info.  I'll test my cheapo power bank with my laptop, at my Chinatown hotel. And I'll buy another data condom in Khlong Thom market. They're super cheap there, but easier to find on Lazada. But I won't be in BKK long enough to count on Lazada.

 

Edited April 22 by impulse

[Crossy]

17 minutes ago, impulse said:

I'll test my cheapo power bank with my laptop, at my Chinatown hotel.

 

Yeah, I just plugged the power bank into the lappie, then plugged the phone into the power bank.

 

Pling!!!

 

And my phone data appeared on the lappie!

[johng]

You could open the power bank and sever the data lines on the USB connection 

or fit a switch to one line for best of both worlds.

 

[impulse]

21 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

Yeah, I just plugged the power bank into the lappie, then plugged the phone into the power bank.

 

Pling!!!

 

And my phone data appeared on the lappie!

The best laid plans...

 

If it's any consolation, both the phone and the charger are at 100%.

 

Edit: I may have lied about data condoms being easy to find on Lazada. I'm limited on search patience looking at a tiny screen sitting in an airport departure gate, but no luv so far. There's zillions on Amazon.

Edited April 22 by impulse

[topt]

22 hours ago, Crossy said:

And my phone data appeared on the lappie!

 

22 hours ago, impulse said:

The best laid plans...

Could you not just change the default USB configuration in Developer Options to No data transfer - depending on Android version and software......?

[Crossy]

12 minutes ago, topt said:

Could you not just change the default USB configuration in Developer Options to No data transfer - depending on Android version and software......?

 

Possibly, but I'll bet there's a bunch of students out there working on a way to break in via even that closed door (if it's not already done).

 

[digbeth]

some of my powerbank double as usb hub, useful for when your computer only has usb-c and you need to plug regular usb-a things in

 

the only way to be sure is to charge the powerbank, and use the charged powerbank on the phone later

[impulse]

On 4/22/2024 at 4:40 PM, johng said:

You could open the power bank and sever the data lines on the USB connection 

or fit a switch to one line for best of both worlds.

 

Good information, but beyond my comfort level, reading about power banks that occasionally burst into flames.

 

And looking at the complexity inside, I'm reminded of the old stickers on stuff when I was growing up:  "No user serviceable parts inside".  (Which I, of course, took as a challenge)  My fine work soldering skills have also gone downhill as I get old and shaky, not to mention that healthcare issue that started recently when I "followed the science"  But I often get deleted when I talk about that, so I'll just go with old and shaky.

 

I did find some data condoms in Chinatown today, but they were made for kids, with shells that look like tiny critters and comic book characters.  So I passed.

 

Edited April 23 by impulse

[Crossy]

5 minutes ago, impulse said:

I did find some data condoms in Chinatown today, but they were made for kids, with shells that look like tiny critters and comic book characters.  So I passed.

 

When my nearly 40-year-old Thai stepson rides his motorcycle wearing a helmet with teddy-bear ears ...

 

[impulse]

1 minute ago, Crossy said:

 

When my nearly 40-year-old Thai stepson rides his motorcycle wearing a helmet with teddy-bear ears ...

 

Man, I feel for you.  Not because I have kids, but because I remember the stupid stuff I did that had to embarrass my conservative, engineer Dad.  I cringe to this day.