Every new portable gadget these days is now being assisted by a ‘Fast Charging’ feature and factually the said feature has become a necessity rather than just a feature these days. However, a study conducted by Tencent’s Xuanwu Lab claims that fast chargers filled with security vulnerabilities that when exploited by hackers can lead to some serious troubles.
Dubbed as BadPower, the vulnerability existing in Fast Charger can help hackers alter firmware and melt down the components with fire.
Technically, a fast charging protocol not only allows power transfer but also allows to & fro data transfer via cable. But the manufactures involved in the cable manufacturing are busy in building a firmware which allows to read and write of data minus any security verification. Thus, here’s where hackers can rewrite the firmware to alter the behavior of the cable on a wholesome note by altering the voltage passage, making it difficult for the device to operate and sometimes melt the components with a fire eruption.
Out of 35 fast chargers, 18 were tested to be super susceptible to BadPower syndrome- as per the report claimed by Xuanwu Labs.
The research claims that the vulnerability can also restrict the manufactures from updating their manufactured gadgets with security updates, and this includes phones, laptops and other devices.
NOTE- Fast Charging Technology also known as ‘Quick Charge’ is a charging protocol that helps battery powered a device such as a mobile phone to charge faster than usual by altering the power supply and negotiating the voltage as per the requirement.
