Tuesday, April 28, 2009

The Role of Bluesnarfing

There are people who have predicted the doom of bluetooth tooth attacks like bluesnarfing. Their reasoning is that WiFi will eventually replace the need for bluetooth devices and without bluetooth, it make sense there will be no bluetooth attacks.

While convincing and logical, bluetooth have yet to be phased out long after WiFi is in use. In face, there are more and more devices using bluetooth technology. The main reason: It's free. Unlike wifi which is a overall network and you are just a "user" in the network, you "own the network". You can switch in on and off anytime you like, and you don't have to pay a cent. There is no logic for example to use wifi for connecting with your headset, but bluetooth fits that function perfectly.

In fact, this neglect on the importance of bluetooth has led to an added advantage to bluesnarfers. Because every is concern about their wifi security, they neglect the fact that their short ranged network which is their bluetooth can easier be hacked into for someone who is nearby or even far away but with the right equipment.

The reason why there is little news about bluesnarfing is that there is no good solution to the problem at the moment, save for switching off your bluetooth device.

So my advice is, be careful if you keep confidential information on your bluetooth devices.