Energizer battery charger opens backdoor on unwary owners

So when will we learn not to trust anything that comes from the likely country that produced this product? Time and again consumers have been burned by poor reliability, virus software, toxic materials, etc. Is the cost worth the risk and potential lawsuits not to mention a company reputation.

The USB ports on your computer are subject to failure. I've had quite a few usb port failures on the systems I support. Why anyone would want to use their USB port for anything other than what you need it for is like using your computers open DVD drawer as a cup holder...Great idea until it breaks. There is no way that this 'feature' wasn't put in this software or firmware by accident or that it's in there simply to support advertised functions of the battery charger. Pacemaker sourced cellphone chargers anyone? It's the power source that's always handy as long as you are!

1. LinuxMint - Unbuntu has had some serious security holes over the years, so do not feel too smug. A real stud-muffin would be using Slack, or better yet BSD. 2. Getting power from a USB port is NOT inherently safe from fire hazards. Many USB chargers are rated as Class III units, but some USB hubs and/or port allow well over Class 2 limits. 3. The USB standard states 500mA max current, but this is no test requirements to verify this limit when the assesment of the box is done to IEC 60950-1.

There is, of course, the Apple USB charger that comes with your iPhone or iPod Touch. That would be a much more appropriate device to charge batteries than the PCs USB port. But wait, if I connect this to my MacBook Pro, there isn't any issue either, since the UNIX OS that runs on the Mac is much smarter about what it will allow a port to do.

Nothing wrong with using a USB port for charging batteries or any peripheral that you can dream up. Just another handy power port when you can't find a convenient AC outlet. The driver malware problem has nothing to do with battery chargers or frivolous uses of the USB port; it could happen to any mouse, printer, or wireless dongle. (I'm not so worried right now, since I'm using LinuxMint.) When I get to work tomorrow, I'll take apart my mouse to make sure there isn't a microphone inside that's sending audio to China.

The idea of monitoring the state of battery charge via your computer might have some possible merit, especially for us tech types. I suppose that really depends on the appearance and functionality of this particular app. That said, I agree with Mr. Ketel that it seems best to use a wall wart. I guess the maker thought they could save some $ by stealing power from the usb port. The mis-use of the intended purpose of this port is already so rampant. From cup warmers to hand massagers. I'm suspicious as well that the chinese maker or a rogue employee was responsible here.

This is a good example of the unintended consequences of something that seemed like a good idea at the time. In the search for a universal power interconnect, as an alternative to the 49 different sizes of the more common style power connector, some fool adopted the USB connection as a source for 5 volts DC, except for when the connection is 3.3 VDC. The cheap and easy fix is to use one of the USB equipped small wall-wart supplies that has no capability of running any software. Better, yet, though, would be to use some other connector and a plain old wall wart and not even bother with the USB style connector.

Why in the world is Energizer adding software to steal power for charging the batteries??!!

@Skeptic: No, I ain't taken that bet.

Let's expand on the thoughts of "Policebox". Besides all the gateways he described, the power cord is also a connection to the outside world. Maybe we should all be running our computers on battery, and only charge THEM through a simple power cord connected to an external, not computer connected, charger. The technology to transmit data over power lines already exists. Kind of think of it as DSL running in the "Silent" background of a normal "POTS" telephone line.

WHY does a battery charger need a connection of any kind to a computer?