The Great Cell Phone Hack

Many cell phones have Internet access. There are dozens of websites that advertise free ring tones and icons to personalize your phone. Put they may not be as personal as you think. Hackers are beginning to find their way from your home or office PC to the cell phone that most Americans can no longer live without. According to Vincent Weafer, senior director of security response for Symantec Corp., a security software firm, Hackers are getting braver by the keystroke. Many people that have downloaded cute ring tones from an on-line source has also downloaded a virus known as “skulls” It turns the icons on your screen into the symbol, as well as makes is impossible to send and receive text messages, access contact lists and calendars. These infections are becoming more and more popular as phones get smarter. Many phones come equipped with Internet service, but very few have spy-ware or virus protection. Most consumers probably never even realized that it was possible to get a virus through your phone. For some, the improbability was a major reason for turning to the phone over the computer. In Japan, cell phones have had such problems for years already. Many phones there get jammed with Spam. Some of the Spam redirects the phone to a site with a virus on it. And there you are. Infected without even knowing it. There are even websites that aid hacker wannabes, making it easy for anyone to pry into your private life. For only $35.00, you can buy the new edition of the Cell Phone Secrets Bible 2005, used on Nokia, Motorola, Ericsson, Mitsubishi, NEC, and Sagem models, to name a few. The site, HackersCatalogue, brags you can learn ESN changes, unlocking codes, data cable construction, bluesnarfing hardware tricks, software tricks and more. While serious hackers probably don’t use resources like this one, it is slightly unnerving to know that it’s now possible for nearly anyone to make your life miserable by changing settings on your phone. Adam Laurie, of London, England has a hidden antennae on his laptop bag that scans every phone that comes within range. According to wired magazine, he isn’t interested in messing with peoples phones, although he could. While Adam may have other agendas, not everyone with this kind of technology has the same attitude. According to the magazine, his antenna picked up signals from 31 phones in 17 minutes. Adam has become infamous in Britain because he had the opportunity to get the addresses of several members of Parliament. While most people would probably love the opportunity to have a direct connection to a member of Parliament, Adam didn’t. There is a serious worm known as Bluetooth, slowly making its way across Europe. While the US is fairly foreign to Bluetooth, it won’t be long before it may be a serious problem. Phones overseas are more complicated than they are here, and many Europeans use their phones to make micropayments – small purchases that show up as charges on cell phone bills. The good news is that Bluetooth hacking is fairly complicated, and not something the average person can learn from an on-line course in a few days. Cell phones today can check movie times, order sporting event tickets, connect to Instant Messenger (for those of us who are forced to leave the room, but cant leave their buddies behind), and download MP3’s. While this makes our life much easier, the closer cell phones get to computers, the more complicated problems will become. Soon, viruses will spread through cell phone address books the same way they do email address books today. While there isn’t much you can do to prevent cell phone hackers once they become a real problem in the US, there are things you can do to protect your identity. For many people, if they lose their phone, life is put on hold. Don’t let this be you. Don’t keep passwords and important information stored in your phone. If you have internet access on your phone, don’t do anything you wouldn’t want others to see. Paying your bills through the phone is the easiest way for hackers to get your most confidential information. Much like with computers, always assume that someone is watching you.