BEWARE PUBLIC MOBILE CHARGING POINTS - YOUR PHONE CAN BE HACKED IN MINUTES

Your smartphone will be easily hacked easily if you plug it in to charge via USB at a public place like a Train, restaurant or on public transport.

Some conditions, like a completely charged battery, facilitate a fast and accurate penetration, whereas others, such as tapping the screen while a page is loading, reduce hackers' ability to determine what website is being viewed. The vital finding from the study is that such an attack is carried out successfully, researchers said.
It's well known that public Wi-Fi connections are a security risk, as this iPhone-crashing bug showed, however USB connections to PCs are also a significant vulnerability. this idea was projected by hackers as a theory in 2014 but never proven. This new analysis shows this vulnerability remains open.
They premeditated the attack based on the device model of the victim, that the hackers managed to induce through the USB-connected pc. "That wouldn't have been as straightforward to achieve if smartphones did not automatically exchange data with a computer upon connecting to the USB port," Kaspersky Labs said.

How to shield yourself

Only plug your phone into trustworthy computers, using trusted USB cables
Protect your mobile with a password, or with another methodology like fingerprint recognition, and don't unlock it while charging.
Use apps which are encrypted like WhatsApp and iMessage to communicate
Antiviruses may be a bore; however, they assist to detect malware even if a "charging" vulnerability is employed.
Update your mobile operating system to the most recent version, as that may have the most up-to-date bug fixes.