Secure Your Cell Phone
by Mary Jane Clark
Cell phones, smartphones, and PDAs have become so commonplace, we tend to forget that security risks they pose. Since cybercriminals take to new technology as quickly as everyone, UCit advises you to take precautions.
First, cell phones are vulnerable to eavesdroppers. Anything said on an analog phone can be intercepted with a scanner. Digital transmissions are scrambled - until a criminal employs unscrambling equipment. Your best protection is to avoid giving any sensitive or confidential information over your mobile phone.
With cloning cell phone fraud, a thief captures a wireless phone's Electronic Serial Number (ESN) and Mobile Identification Number (MIN, i.e., the phone number), and alters the microchip of another wireless phone to create a clone of the original. Calls made with a cloned phone are billed and traced to the legitimate account.
As a countermeasure, get the appropriate plan - regional or national, if you need it. It's safer. If you get a local plan, limit roaming. Roaming defeats the purpose of Personal Identification Numbers (PINs), and foils penny-pinching intentions to boot. Some manufacturers have abandoned the PIN for other types of authentication. Check your manufacturer's instructions, and implement authentication features. Having taken this measure, you will have protection against a thief accessing your personal information and using your phone.
Further, turn off the phone whenever you can. A cell phone polls the base station every few seconds, so the system knows through which base station to route calls. Polling exposes a phone to interception and cloning.
If your cell is Bluetooth-enabled, set your Bluetooth so that your device is invisible. (Typically, this is something like Bluetooth > visibility > Hide phone, but consult your manufacturer's documentation.) Take care not to accept messages of unknown origin, and install anti-virus software. UCit recommends that you disable Bluetooth when you are not using it, and only enable features you actually want to use. Further, be careful where you use Bluetooth technology. A public wireless hot spot is likely to be risky. Take advantage of the security options your Bluetooth device offers, such as authentication and encryption. Make sure that your connections are configured to require SECURE connections.
Many modern phones also support wireless Internet via 802.11, just like the wireless laptop. If your phone has this capability, turn it off when it's not in use. This will save your battery as well as helping to protect your phone. Also, just as with Bluetooth, set it to be invisible. That is, set it to not broadcast the SSID as this is how devices automatically find each other and try to connect.
To protect against cell phone viruses, do not install illegal software, and use extreme caution opening attachments.
Of course, your cell phone itself may be stolen. Against this possibility, you may want to keep important contact information separate from the phone. Get your device's International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) code. The fifteen- or seventeen-digit number is usually printed on the box in which a new cell phone arrives. Most smartphones have their IMEIs spelled out under their batteries. Alternatively, you can type * # 0 6 # (i.e., star, hash, zero, six, hash). The code, unique to your handset, should appear on the screen.
Once you have the IMEI number, write it down and secure it somewhere. Then, if someone does steal your cell phone, you can give the code to your service provider, who can block your handset. Even if the thief changed the SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card, the phone would be useless - without a greater investment on the criminal's part, anyway.
In summary, some precautions you can take against cybercriminals targeting you through your wireless device include the following:
- Avoid giving sensitive or confidential information over your wireless device
- Activate a PIN or other authentication
- Get the appropriate plan - and if you select a local one, avoid roaming
- Turn off the phone whenever you can
- Disable Bluetooth when you are not using it, and only enable features you actually want to use. Configure invisibility. Enable authentication and encryption. Configure SECURE connections.
- Discover and store the IMEI
For more information on cell phone security, please visit UC Information Security.
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