I am taking a security course. If it had its way, I would never use a charging cable that wasn't personally glued to my body. The course creator must be pleased about the recently announced lockdown mode in Android 15.

As discovered by Android Authority, lockdown mode helps protect against juice-jacking attacks.

There are several security risks when connecting to charging stations, but juicejacking is one of the more widespread ones.

Juicejacking is a cyber theft technique in which malicious vendors plant malware in public USB charging stations to gain access to devices that are being charged. A corrupted USB port can lock the device or export personal data.

Android 15 was announced at Google I/O in May and is still in beta, with features gradually being added through OS updates.

Lockdown mode was first introduced in Android 9. When enabled, it hides notifications and requires a PIN, password, or pattern to restore device functionality.

Lockdown mode in Android 15 disables USB data access. When this mode is enabled, active connections and connected input devices at the ADB terminal are also stopped. Currently, this mode is automatically available on Pixel terminals, and other Android OEMs must enable this mode.

Lockdown is not the only security feature Android has to stop juicejacking. Android will not allow USB debugging until the device is unlocked. In most cases, file access is restricted until USB is allowed in file transfers.

As a precaution, even with lockdown enabled, it is best to avoid public chargers and unfamiliar cables on cell phones, as malicious people will probably find a way around the new security feature at some point. Still, it's a positive step for Android users, giving them peace of mind.