Bluetooth cell phones

Bluetooth Cell Phones


Explore the world without wires! Use any of the Bluetooth cell phones to send/receive data, email and photos without a cable to any other Bluetooth compatible phone or PC. Easily synchronize a phone with your PC or Mac wirelessly or use it with a compatible Bluetooth headset to voice dial or accept phone calls several feet away from your cell phone.

The Bluetooth process and vulnerability


When it's set to "discoverable" mode, your Bluetooth cell phone or PDA sends a signal indicating that it's available to "pair" with another Bluetooth gadget and transmit data back and forth. However, an attacker who detects this signal could also attempt to pair with your device and hack in to steal your personal identification number (PIN). You could remain blissfully unaware, while the attacker, with your PIN in hand, could be:
• Stealing information stored on your device, including contact lists, e-mail, and text messages.
• Sending unsolicited text messages or images to other Bluetooth-enabled gadgets.
• Accessing your mobile phone commands, which allows the attacker to use your phone to make phone calls, sent text messages, read and write phonebook contacts, eavesdrop on conversations, and connect to the Internet.
• Installing a virus on your device that could wreak the same kind of havoc as a virus could on your computer—for example, slowing or disabling your service, or destroying or stealing information.
Criminals have also been known to drive around with Bluetooth detectors, looking for cell phones and PDAs to infiltrate; and to outfit laptop computers with powerful antennas in order to pick up Bluetooth signals from as far as a half-mile away. The latest forms of high-tech attack even include forcing Bluetooth devices to pair with the attacker's device when they are not in the discoverable mode. (It's also very labor-intensive, so targets tend to be individuals known to have a very large bank account or hold expensive secrets.

Tips to improve your Bluetooth security


• Keep your Bluetooth setting to "non-discoverable" (transmission-disabled) and only switch it to "discoverable" when you're using it. Just leaving your cell phone or PDA in the discoverable mode keeps it dangerously open for Bluetooth transmission—a Bluetooth user within up to a 30-foot range can receive your signal and potentially use it to access your device as you walk around town, drive, or even walk through your office.