Don’t charge phones in trains, restaurants, NCC warns – Newstrends
Connect with us

Business

Don’t charge phones in trains, restaurants, NCC warns

Published

on

The Nigerian Communications Commission has warned against charging mobile phones using public charging ports or sockets in order to protect them from cyberattacks.

It also cautioned against accepting charging cables or chargers from strangers in public places.

The NCC stated this through its Cyber Security Incident Response Team, in its first-ever security advisories less than three months after its creation, raising the alarm over the newly identified two cyberattacks, Juice Jacking and Facebook for Android Friend Acceptance Vulnerability.

A statement by the NCC Friday said Juice Jacking can gain access into consumers’ devices when charging mobile phones at public charging stations and applies to all mobile phones.

It added that the Facebook for Android Friend Acceptance Vulnerability targets only Android Operating System.

Many public spaces, restaurants, malls, and even public trains do offer complementary services to their customers in a bid to enhance customer services, one of which is providing charging ports or sockets.

However, an attacker can leverage this courtesy to load a payload in the charging station or on the cables they would leave plugged in at the stations.

NCC said, “Once unsuspecting persons plug their phones at the charging station or the cable left by the attacker, the payload is automatically downloaded on the victims’ phone.

“This payload then gives the attacker remote access to the mobile phone, allowing them to monitor data transmitted as text, or audio using the microphone.

“The attacker can even watch the victim in real time if the victims’ camera is not covered.

“The attacker is also given full access to the gallery and also to the phone’s Global Positioning System (GPS) location.

It said when an attacker gains access to a user’s mobile phone, he would get remote access to the user’s phone which would lead to a breach in confidentiality, violation of data integrity, and bypass of authentication mechanisms.

The NCC said symptoms of attack may include a sudden spike in battery consumption, devices operating slower than usual, apps taking a long time to load, and when they load they crash frequently and cause abnormal data usage.

The NCC-CSIRT, however, proffered solutions to this attack to include using ‘charging only USB cable’, to avoid Universal Serial Bus (USB) data connection; using one’s AC charging adaptor in public space, and not granting trust to portable devices prompt for USB data connection.

Other preventive measures against Juice Jacking include installing Antivirus and updating them to the latest definitions always; keeping mobile devices up to date with the latest patches; using one’s own power bank; keeping the mobile phone off when charging in public places; as well as ensuring use of one’s own charger if one must charge in public.

 

On the other hand, the NCC-CSIRT Advisory 0001 of January 27 warns that Facebook for Android is vulnerable to a permission issue which gives privilege to anyone with physical access to the android device to accept friend requests without unlocking the phone.

 

With this, the attacker will be able to add the victim as a friend and collect personal information of the victim, such as email, date of birth, check-ins, mobile phone number, address, pictures and other information that the victim may have shared, which would only be visible to his/her friends.

 

However, to be protected from the Facebook-associated vulnerability, NCC-CSIRT in the security advisory recommended to users to disable the feature from their device’s lock screen notification settings.

Advertisement

Business

PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency

Published

on

Port Harcourt Refinery

PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency

No fewer than 200 trucks are set to load petroleum products at the government-owned Port Harcourt Refinery, the presidency has said.

A presidential spokesperson, Sunday Dare, made this known in a statement through his official X handle on Tuesday.

Newstrends had reported that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company on Tuesday announced that Port Harcourt Refinery has resumed operations and crude oil processing after years of inactivity.

READ ALSO:

Reacting, Dare said, “200 trucks are expected to load products daily from the refinery, Renewing the Hopes of Nigeria.”

He added that “the Port Harcourt refinery has two wings.

“The Old Refinery comes on stream today with an installed production capacity of 60, 000 barrels per day of crude oil.”

 

PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency

Continue Reading

Business

Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%

Published

on

Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%

 

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the lending interest to 27.50 per cent from 27.25 per cent.

This latest increase in the Monetary Policy Rate came after a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday and concluded Tuesday.

The Monetary Policy Rate measures the benchmark interest rate.

The CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, announced this in Abuja on Tuesday after the MPC meeting, last for the year, held at the apex bank’s headquarters.

He said the MPC voted unanimously to raise the MPR by 25 basis points from 27.25% to 27.50%; and retain the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 50% for Deposit Money Banks and 16% for Merchant Banks.

The CBN governor also said the MPC retained the Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30% and Asymmetric Corridor at +500/-100 basis points around the MPR.

Continue Reading

Business

Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS

Published

on

Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS

 

Nigeria’s unemployment rate stood at 4.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said in its latest report.

The report released on Monday said the unemployment rate decreased compared to the 5.3 per cent recorded in the Q1 of 2024.

The NBS defined the unemployment rate as the share of the labour force (the combination of unemployed and employed people) who are not employed but actively searching and are available for work.

“The unemployment rate for Q2 2024 was 4.3%, showing an increase of 0.1 percentage point compared to the same period last year,” the report stated.

“The unemployment rate among males was 3.4% and 5.1% among females.

“By place of residence, the unemployment rate was 5.2% in urban areas and 2.8% in rural areas. Youth unemployment rate was 6.5% in Q2 2024, showing a decrease from 8.4% in Q1 2024.”

Report also said the unemployment rate among persons with post-secondary education was 4.8 per cent; 8.5 per cent among those with upper secondary education, 5.8 per cent for those with lower secondary education, and 2.8 per cent among those with primary education in Q2 2024.

Employment rate – 76%

The report showed that the employment-to-population ratio, which measures the number of employed workers against the total working-age population, increased to 76.1 per cent in Q2 2024.

“In Q2 2024, 76.1% of Nigeria’s working-age population was employed, up from 73.1% in Q1 2024,” the report stated.

Self-employment – 85.6%

The report further showed that Nigeria’s labour market saw a notable shift as the proportion of self-employed individuals increased in Q2 2024.

It stated, “The proportion of persons in self-employment in Q2 2024 was 85.6%.”

Continue Reading

Trending