How to Hack an iPhone With a USB Charger

When it comes to threats to mobile devices, most people don’t think of chargers as a likely point of attack. But plugging in an iPhone — or any smartphone or tablet — could come at a price.

At next month’s Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas, three Georgia Institute of Technology researchers will show how a USB-connected charger can silently install malicious code onto an iOS device. It’s a concept referred to in computer-security circles as “juice jacking.”