The smartphone is an invaluable tool. A way of life. A basic necessity now. So when you see that battery slipping away and you find a public charging station close by, you are most likely going to go plug in that phone to charge. After all if the juice runs out, you are going to be in serious trouble. How will you stay in touch with the world?

That action could be one of the biggest mistakes you ever make. Experts warn us that using public charging stations to charge your phone is a high risk activity. The USB cables that are provided at the location can actually be used by hackers to transfer data from your phone even while you are blissfully charging it.

At the New York Institute of Technology researchers were able to find out that hackers can access the smart phone plugged in via the charging cable. They did not require a specific data cable to see what websites the phone user has been visiting while the phone was charging. The charging station can be used for malicious intent if the hacker so desired. This science project proves that keeping a smartphone safe is quite difficult when hackers can expose so many vulnerabilities.