Although hacking is generally associated with computers, mobile phones are also at risk from hackers. Mobile phones that use wap use wireless connections to access the Internet and these connections can be easily hacked into. Phone companies have also been hacked before with the hackers gaining access into thousands of mobile phone user records. There are different ways to hack into mobile phones depending on the type of wap connection they use. Bluesnarfing for example is the specific method of hacking into phones that use Bluetooth connections. A hacker would do this in order to copy all of the information on the phone such as the contacts for instance.
People are using their mobile phones to send increasingly private information as technology enables the use of email, etc on mobile phones. Hacking of a mobile phone can cover the hacking that involves tricking the mobile phone company into providing free texts, calls or wap. It can also include the cloning of sims in order to charge calls under another person’s name and number or even the use of hacking to gain access to a person’s confidential information such as passwords or various account details.
Cell phones - Hackers Next Target!
It was bound to happen - they have hacked just about everything else. Now it’s the cell phones. Cellphone hacking has just recently surfaced and been made public ever since
some one did some cellular phone hacking on Paris Hilton’s cell phone. This article will give
you some information about what is going on out there and what you can do to better protect your cell phone information.
What Does It Involve ?
The fact of someone hacking cell phone became public knowledge when Paris Hilton’s cell phone, along with her information was recently hacked. Unfortunately for her, all her celebrity friends and their phone numbers were also placed on the Internet - resulting in a barrage of calls to each of them.
Cell phone hackers have apparently found a glitch in the way the chips are manufactured. The good news, though, is that it only applies to the first generation models of cell phones that use the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM). Another requirement is that the hacker must have physical access to the cell phone for at least three minutes - which is a real good reason not to let it out of your sight. Currently, although the problem has been remedied (at least for now) in the second and third generation phones, it seems that about 70% of existing cell phones fall within the first generation category.
Another way that mobile phone hacking can take place is for a hacker to walk around an area with people that have cell phones and a laptop that has cellphone hacker programs on it. Through an antenna, and a little patience, his computer can literally pick up your cell phone data - if it is turned on. This is more applicable to cell phones that use Bluetooth technology.
 | What Can A Hacker Do? |
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Surprisingly, there are quite a number of things that can be accomplished by the hacker. Depending on their intent here are a few of them.
•Steal Your Number
Your phone number can be accessed and obtained by cellphone hacking. This allows them to make calls and have it charged to your account.
•Take Your Information
Mobile hacking allows a hacker to contact your cell phone, without your knowledge, and to download your addresses and other information you might have on your phone. Many hackers are not content to only get your information. Some will even change all your phone numbers! Be sure to keep a backup of your information somewhere. This particular technique is called Bluesnarfing.
•Rob Your Money
Other options might use a particular buying feature called SMS. This refers to the fact
that money can be taken from your account and transferred into another - and a good
hacker can sit in one place and access a lot of phones and transfer a lot of money rather quickly - probably in less time than you think!
•Give The System A Virus
By using another cell phone hack code, a hacker could kidnap your phone, send it a camouflaged program or send it a virus. But it does not end there, since, from that point, he can use your phone to retransmit the virus to many other phones almost instantly - potentially disabling the system.
•Spy On You
A hacker can also gain access and take over for cell phone spying and remote mobile phone hacking. Literally, once secured, the hacker can have the phone call him, and then be able to listen to all conversations going on around the owner of the phone.
•Access Your Voice Mails
Voice mails can also be retrieved by a hacker through a hacking cell phone. After stealing your number, this can easily be done - if your password is disabled. The main thing that needs to be understood here, is that the electronics that give you the modern convenience of interacting with the Internet (getting your voice mails, emails, Web surfing, etc.) , is also the same technology that allows you to receive the same ills as can befall someone on the Internet.
Examples:
BTInfo - You can access to Sony Ericsson phones and More with this app - Download btinfo
BlueSniff - BlueSniff is a GUI-based utility for finding discoverable and hidden Bluetooth-enabled devices. Download BlueSniff.
BlueBugger -BlueBugger exploits the BlueBug vulnerability. BlueBug is the name of a set of Bluetooth security holes found in some Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones. By exploiting those vulnerabilities, one can gain an unauthorized access to the phone-book, calls lists and other private information. Download BlueBugger.
CIHWB - Can I Hack With Bluetooth (CIHWB) is a Bluetooth security auditing framework for Windows Mobile 2005. Currently it only support some Bluetooth exploits and tools like BlueSnarf, BlueJack, and some DoS attacks. Should work on any PocketPC with the Microsoft Bluetooth stack. Download CIHWB.
Bluediving - Bluediving is a Bluetooth penetration testing suite. It implements attacks like Bluebug, BlueSnarf, BlueSnarf++, BlueSmack, has features such as Bluetooth address spoofing, an AT and a RFCOMM socket shell and implements tools like carwhisperer, bss, L2CAP packetgenerator, L2CAP connection resetter, RFCOMM scanner and greenplaque scanning mode. Download Bluediving.
Bluesnarfer - Bluesnarfer will download the phone-book of any mobile device vulnerable to Bluesnarfing. Bluesnarfing is a serious security flow discovered in several Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones. If a mobile phone is vulnerable, it is possible to connect to the phone without alerting the owner, and gain access to restricted portions of the stored data. Download Bluesnarfer.
BTcrack - BTCrack is a Bluetooth Pass phrase (PIN) cracking tool. BTCrack aims to reconstruct the Passkey and the Link key from captured Pairing exchanges. Download BTcrack.
 | What Can You Do? |
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It seems that the major cell phone companies, at least at this point, really are not interested in bringing the system up to be able to cope with this threat. Meetings are starting to take place, but for now it is not perceived to be real serious. This could be because it is primarily the older phones that are most susceptible to some types of this mobile hacking.
Until the cell phone manufacturers are able to cope with, or eliminate, the glitches in the system that allows them to overcome these problems, you will largely have to help yourself to cope with these things. Here are a couple of tips that will help you protect your cell phone, its information, and other things.
•Use Your Passwords
The cell phone companies tell us that many people have turned off their passwords when they access their voice mail messages, or other things. This little feature, though it may seem to be an annoyance to some, could protect your phone from unauthorized purposes.
•Leave The Phone Off
This one is obviously the harder choice, here, simply because most of us who have cell phones like to be reached anytime and anywhere. Others do need to be reachable at all times.
•Upgrade Your Phone
While this cannot guarantee that your phone is not hackable, it certainly will help. It should be remembered that the phone companies work hard to deliver the best technology and conveniences - but the cell phone hacks work just as hard to be the first to break the systems designed to defeat them. It is an ongoing battle.
Cellular phone hacking, for now, is a fact of life that affects a few of us. Gladly, the numbers are still small, but many feel this problem is just getting started. By being aware of the problems, you can wisely take steps to prevent them from happening to you. Cellphone hacking does not need to catch you unprepared.
