is it possible for my iphone to be jailbroken if my charger brick has been tampered with?all

Question

Level 1

4 points

is it possible for my iphone to be jailbroken if my charger brick has been tampered with?all

is this scenario possible? Say I left my iPhone wall charger unattended, and someone tech savvy saw it and opened it to steal my iPhone data, track my iPhone, etc made those alterations and closed the charger back again. Then I went to use the charger, would the hijacked charger be able to jailbreak my iPhone and install monitoring apps in it without my knowledge?

my iPhone is up to date. I use it all the time when it’s charging. I know how USB ports can be vulnerable to attacks as it has power and data transfer units in it.

thank you so much!

Posted on Feb 4, 2022 7:20 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Michael Black

Level 10

80,623 points

Feb 4, 2022 7:24 AM in response to oiejuju

No, not possible. The power brick is nothing more than a power converter, talking wall socket power and converting it to USB 5V output. It has no ability to hold data, to compute anything or transfer anything to any device plugged into.

An iPhone, iPad or Mac all control their own battery charging. The actual charger is a component of the device, not the power supply.

There is nothing to hack in a power converter. It is nothing more than an electrical converter. It cannot download data, cannot upload data, cannot store data, and cannot store nor execute computer code.

Reply

Answer 2

Feb 4, 2022 6:38 PM in response to oiejuju

No, juice jacking using public provided charging ports (e.g. in the arms of airport chairs or restaurant or hotel tables) is a real thing, for any and every device, not just Android. But in that case you’re not using your power supply. You’re plugging a cable into a provided power port to charge your device.

Your stand-alone power supply that you plug into a two prong 115v outlet and then use a usb to lightening or use to usb-c cable from that power brick to your device to charge your device is immune from any such hack.

Reply

Answer 3

Feb 4, 2022 6:44 PM in response to oiejuju

Let me add to what has already been said, if it is an Apple power source it cannot be opened without destroying the case, which would be really obvious if it actually happened. It would have to be opened with a power tool such as a Dremel with a saw attachment.

Reply

Answer 4

oiejuju Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 4, 2022 7:53 AM in response to Michael Black

Wow! That’s one extremely helpful, intelligent answer, I searched all over the internet for some answer like this for hours but didn’t find anything not even close to it, thank you so much, Michael. Very reassuring knowing those facts.

I ask because I was left confused by posts online saying that due to the wall brick charger having a USB port that it could be juice jacked as USB allows data transfer, that I would need to disconnect the 2 data transfer pins and leave only the power ones connected to prevent it etc. which all left me confused, making me think someone with IT knowledge could modify my charger to track my iPhone by exploiting the USB pins of the AC adapter or installing a chip

I also read there are brick chargers with mini computers inside being sold for this reason, which is quite crazy, not sure if it’s a legit information

And the “Juice Jacking” hack they talk about in airports, it only affects android phones?

Reply

is it possible for my iphone to be jailbroken if my charger brick has been tampered with?all

Similar questions