Phone hacking is all the rage at the minute but the JOE journalists can safely say we’ve never dabbled. (Well okay, maybe the odd ex-girlfriend). Today we look at how you can prevent an invasion of your voicemail.
Chances are that you’re leaving yourself wide open for a phone hacking.
Fair enough, it may not be from former News of the World journalists – their time has been taken up far too much by invading the privacy of murder victims’ families – but unless you’re tech-savvy, you could be susceptible to a privacy attack from a stalker, crazed ex or your boss.
Anyway, let’s look at how your voicemail can be hacked (as has been the case in the NOTW instances) and how you can avoid it happening to you.
PIN Codes
The person attempting to access your voicemail is likely to know you or will want information about you to use against you, so they’re going to have some groundwork done.
Using the year you wear born as your PIN code is inviting trouble and instead, opting for something sequential, such ‘1234’, will not require Ireland’s best codebreaker to get on the job.
Changing the unique PIN code for your voicemail will offer limited protection but it’s never going to be full proof until network providers come up with something special.
Social Media
What would we do without Facebook, Twitter and JOE’s favourite, Bebo?
The problem here is that users share far too much personal information with their “friends” and “followers” – birth dates, email addresses, where they’re ‘at’ and yes, the incredibly idiotic choice to display their mobile phone number.
Hackers only need the bare minimum of personal data and they’re, eh, away in a hack. Easy solution: Don’t tell the world what you wouldn’t tell a Garda if he caught you smoking a jazz cigarette.
Fapps
Or fake apps as they’re more commonly called. Our tech expert here at JOE Towers, Emmet Purcell, has put us wide to these highly dangerous downloadable threats.
It doesn’t take a lot of work for a cyber criminal to create a fake app but increased vetting from iTunes before an app can go on sale has made this method more difficult.
If you have an smartphone, you need to be careful when downloading less well-known apps and you should check them thoroughly before proceeding. Jailbroken phones and unlicensed apps obviously carry a much higher risk.
Online banking
You’re taking a massive risk if you do online banking on your phone. Scammers known as ‘shoulder surfers’ are always on the lookout for vulnerable users accessing the account details on the go and can strike very quickly.
Best to hold out until you’re using a secure line at work or at home.
Bluetooth
Finally, we come to an area that should employ ‘keep it simple’ tactics. Switch off Bluetooth when you’re not using it and only accept connections with people you know and trust. It’s wide open to hackers if you’re careless.
[Main picture via Flickr Commons]
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