Bluetooth enabled on your cell phone leaves you vulnerable to hackers. They can easily connect and manipulate your phone simply by using a Bluetooth connection.
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless communication technology that uses the 2.4-GHz frequency range for its transmission. Most new cell phones have Bluetooth by default these days for things like wireless headsets, in-car connectivity, syncing with a computer and many other uses
Bluetooth was incorporated on cell phones, the only communication method used by the device was the carrier or network connection. Now that Bluetooth has been associated, it provides a perfect entry point for manipulation. The fact that cell phones carry a lot of private data these days, makes “Bluetooth attacks” even more scary. While simply having Bluetooth as a feature on your cell phone doesn’t make you vulnerable to attacks, walking around with the Bluetooth function enabled and “visible” does.
a hacker can simply download some special software and install it on a laptop or netbook. He can then install a Bluetooth antenna to that computer and put everything in a backpack, briefcase, etc. Now, all he has to do is walk around public places where a lot of people are concentrated, and let the computer running in his bag do all the work while no one has any idea what’s happening
Once the hacker’s software finds and connects to a vulnerable Bluetooth-enabled cell phone, it can do things like download address book information, photos, calendars, SIM card details, make long-distance phone calls using the hacked device, bug phone calls and much more. There’s a myriad of software freely available that’s made specifically to attack cell phones via Bluetooth connections, and every time an update to the technology or certain cell phones becomes available there’s bound to be new hacking software for it.
The possibilities are virtually endless, and these are just a few examples of what can be done utilizing the Bluetooth connection on cell phones. Many think that they’re safe from such attacks because Bluetooth is such a short-range communication method- a hacker would have to be within a few feet to be able to do anything. With special antennae that’s been developed solely for this application, hackers can connect to cell phones that are up to a 1000 feet and more away. The entire process is just to easy for hackers, all they need is some special software, an antenna of some sort and some basic knowledge.
all Bluetooth-enabled cell phones are vulnerable to all attacks. Bluesnarfing and other attacks may work while bluebugging doesn’t on one make and model of cell phone, while only bluebugging and nothing else works on another. That’s why hackers generally setup a variety of hacks, and when they’re out and about performing their attacks on un-suspecting victims, the software will automatically identify the cell phone model and attack it accordingly in any way it knows how.
Best way to avoid such an attack is to simply remember to turn off your Bluetooth when you’re not using it
