Bluetooth security … is it an issue?
Posted by Jack Cook on 09/21/07 in General, Wifi / Bluetooth
Lynn Tan, a special to CNET News.com, had an interesting article today that addressed this question. With the increased use of Bluetooth wireless, awareness of security issues or at least knowledge of potential issues should be a concern for all.
A study by research firm InsightExpress revealed that 73 percent of mobile device users are not acquainted with security issues that could put at risk mobile devices such as cell phones and Bluetooth-equipped notebooks. To these users, terms such as “bluejacking,” “bluesnarfing” or even “bluebugging” would probably be unfamiliar.
“There are many other methods that (launch) a variety of denial-of-service attacks, and even some that could allow an attack to eavesdrop on private conversations,” Ooi Szu-Khiam, senior security consultant at Symantec Singapore, said in an e-mail interview. Ooi noted that “numerous instances of mobile viruses, worms and Trojan horses” have emerged in the past year.
What can you do? These are some of the possible solutions:
Turn off features that you are not using.
Make sure the device’s visibility setting is set to “hidden,” so hackers will not be able to scan and search for it.
Do not accept and run attachments from unknown sources.
And make sure you use strong passwords
You can read Lynn’s article here at CNET News.com
Written by Jack Cook · Filed Under General, Wifi / Bluetooth
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This is nothing new. I’ve been reading about Bluetooth vulnerabilities for years. The tips offered here are just common sense. Sounds to me like some antivirus vendors are gearing up to start a marketing campaign of their security applications to the pocket pc market.