Is that USB-C cable going to fry your device? Hopefully not, but right now there's no real way to tell, save for scathing reviews on Amazon.
A handful of tech companies—HP, Intel, Microsoft, Renesas Electronics, STMicroelectronics, and Texas Instruments—also known as the USB 3.0 Promoter Group, are looking to solve that problem with a new USB-C standard that will alert your PC or phone if you just plugged in a crappy cable.
Using 128-bit encryption, the standard will serve as gatekeeper between your device and the USB-C cable; faulty ones will be rejected before they can kill your PC or infect your device with a virus or ransomware.
"USB is well-established as the favored choice for connecting and charging devices," USB 3.0 Promoter Group Chairman Brad Saunders said in a statement. "The new USB Type-C Authentication protocol equips product OEMs with the proper tools to defend against 'bad' USB cables, devices and non-compliant USB chargers."
Device makers will have to adopt the standard, so this won't go into effect immediately. As Gizmodo points out, one potential downside is that companies could capitalize on users' fears and hike up prices for certified cables. It might also create headaches for existing ones, which will have to be retroactively certified, or tossed.
The news comes after Google engineer Benson Leung took it upon himself to review USB-C cables found on Amazon, many of which he considered shoddy or dangerous. For example, he posted a one-star review of Surjtech's 3M USB A-to-C cable, which he said caused serious damage to his laptop. Amazon later began cracking down on sales of shoddy USB-C cables.
In February, Apple also issued a recall for a "limited number" of charging cables included with MacBook computers through June 2015.