Juice Jacking Trends On X After Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma's Post On Flight Passenger

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday sought help from social media to find a fellow passenger who lent him a charger and cable during a flight journey. Sarma expressed his regrets for not being able to return the items and said that if his message reaches the person, they should contact him.

In a social media post, Sarma expressed his gratitude to the passenger and shared the details of the incident, which took place during his journey from Delhi to Dubai. Sarma said that he was travelling on an Emirates flight when a passenger lent him the items.

However, the passenger disembarked in Dubai while Sarma was asleep, and he couldn’t return them. Through his post, the Assam CM apologised for the inconvenience to the passenger. He also requested them to contact him.

"I’ve just now arrived in Amsterdam and feel deeply apologetic for not returning his belongings. If this message reaches him, please send me a direct message so I can arrange to return your charger and cable promptly," his post read.

The CM also tagged Emirates in his post, hoping to get a resolution on the matter. However, what has caught the attention of social media users is the concern around "juice jacking." The term soon started to trend on X. 

 Juice jacking is understood as the risk of maliciously tampering with charging stations. It is a security exploit in which the device connected to the tampered USB can get infected. This can result in the device being potentially compromised to steal data.

Since Sarma is a CM, netizens expressed concern that he should get his device checked.

"Get your phone checked as soon as possible. The person may have good intentions, but as the Chief Minister of a state, there's always a risk of your phone being tracked or your data being compromised," a user, identified as @aaraynsh advised the Assam Chief Minister.

"Buy him a new one, don't return the old one. It's called Juice Jacking," another user said.

Similar concerns were echoed by other people, who highlighted the risk of data theft through infected cables.

Sarma or his office have not reacted to the comments so far.