Mobile Technology and Libraries: Balancing Service and Safety

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Mobile technology has become a part of everyday life for many people. By extension, libraries have had to adapt to the people in the community accordingly. This is shown in the writings of David Lee King, who has made articles such as “5 Ways To Up Your Mobile Game” to list out the different ways that libraries can make changes to be more accommodating to people who use smartphones. It provides several excellent ideas that libraries should be taking up, such as increasing the availability of places to charge your smartphones, or making use of mobile technology to advertise your library. However, something I want to talk about is the potential risks to cybersecurity that come with interacting with a public space like a library, and how to handle them.

Charging stations can be a big help when you’re caught with low battery on your smartphone. Aside from electric outlets, many public spaces such as libraries will offer USB ports for charging and even charging cables to borrow. However, the use of USB comes with an opportunity for those with malicious intent to access people’s phones. On the FCC website, the article “What is 'Juice Jacking' and Tips to Avoid It” provides key information on what to watch out for and what to do to keep safe. As the article describes, juice-jacking is when “bad actors can load malware onto public USB charging stations to maliciously access electronic devices while they are being charged.” (FCC) It’s not without safety measures that you can take into your own hands, however. In particular, it is recommended in the article to bring your own charging cable and AC adaptor, and to avoid USB ports or charging cables, as the same charging cable acts as a data cable that will provide access to your phone.

Another example of the ways you can run into risk is that of QR codes. It seems that they have risen in popularity for their convenience, but QR codes can be dangerous as well. “On QR Codes and Safety” by Vinton G. Cerf paints the picture clearly. “There is no readily discernible information visible in a QR code (or many of its variations). You really have no way to tell whether it is potentially malicious.” (Cerf) Unfortunately, QR codes by their nature are very difficult to identify the risk in. Even if your phone allows you to see links provided by the QR codes, those links are still able to hide their malicious intent. The best course of action is to be very careful in what you scan, and to not scan any QR code from a source you’re not familiar with.

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Works Cited

        King, David Lee. “FIVE WAYS to Up Your Library’s Mobile Game.” Computers in Libraries, vol. 42, no. 3, Apr. 2022, pp. 4–8. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lxh&AN=156035131&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

        Consumer and Governmental Affairs. “What Is ‘Juice Jacking’ and Tips to Avoid It.” Federal Communications Commission, 27 Apr. 2023, www.fcc.gov/juice-jacking-tips-to-avoid-it.

        Cerf, Vinton G. “On QR Codes and Safety” Communications of the ACM, vol. 66, no. 2, Feb. 2023, p. 7. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ezproxy.palomar.edu/10.1145/3578891.

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