Mobile phone hacking, sleazebags, and doing the right thing

I've been following the unfolding scandal at the British tabloid News of the World and wondered: How can people be so silly to not protect their privacy with a password on their voicemail?

Well, it turns out I am silly! Hundreds of millions of us are. The default settings with most mobile carriers are set at "PLEASE HACK ME." That's why it was so easy for reporters to hack thousands of people's voicemail systems. I outline how to protect your phone below.

Sleazebags

But I've also been thinking: How can people be so sleazy and unethical?

I've seen this before.

When I worked on Wall Street there were many insider-trading scandals. It's just plain sleazy (and also illegal) to trade on inside information.

Pretending to be somebody you’re not such as Edelman PR's fake blog, Wal-Marting Across America. It's just plain sleazy to try to fool people on social networks.

And now the phone voicemail hacking. It's just plain sleazy to invade people's privacy by listening to their private voicemail messages.

You'd think that financial markets professionals, PR professionals, and media professionals would know better. But some are prepared to stake their reputations (and even the possibility of jail time) to gain an unethical advantage.

You are vulnerable to phone hacking

If you can access your voicemails from your mobile directly - without entering a password - then you're vulnerable. I was, and I didn't even know it.

Hackers use simple services called caller ID spoofing, which allows them to make a call that appears to be coming from any phone number they choose. So if somebody were to call my mobile phone number and use spoof software to fool the system into thinking it was me calling from my own phone, they get access to my messages. Here's a good 7-minute video from WSJ that outlines spoofing.

This is what reporters at News of the World did. The resulting crisis brought down the 168 year old newspaper and derailed News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch's proposed takeover or BSkyB.

Protect your voicemail now

I'm an iPhone user and use AT&T. I'm told that the vulnerabilities are similar on other devices and with other carriers.

I found out how to protect myself and reproduce the steps here. If you are not an AT&T customer, there is probably something similar for your carrier. (Users of other wireless providers feel free to leave the steps in the comments section.

Protect yourself now.

Please, do the right thing.

There are no shortcuts. And even if there were, how the hell can you live with yourself if you pretend to be someone you’re not, or trade on inside information, or hack people’s personal information?

Comments

[Richard Glynn]

Hi David.

And they say PR professionals are the ones without the ethics!! ;)

I think you're being a little near sighted in your post. There are actually many benefits to being hacked.

I often get asked: How do you achieve free publicity? I believe the secret is this: Do nothing.

Assuming they haven’t got round to you yet, sooner or later journalists in the UK will hack your phone and publish your personal details in a national newspaper.

[Adi Gaskell]

Mobile phone security is one of those issues that has flown under the radar a bit, but it certainly won't be any longer after the past week. It's amazing how few phones are password protected. Maybe manufacturers should demand people secure their phones as a default feature?

We did some research into business continuity (ie risk) this year and found 'hacking' to be up there at the top of the pile. Events like this can only deepen that concern, especially as more and more employees are using smart phones for work.

I put together a few tips on how people can make their phone a bit more secure btw.

[David Meerman Scott]

Richard - Interesting take on free publicity!

Adi - it is not the manufacturers. The problem lies with the carriers.

[Jodi Kaplan]

I have a password (have for some time). Feeling very proud of myself too. :)

And yeah, what Murdoch did is really sleazy.

[Burst Marketing]

I completely agree that the importance of mobile security has been played down. It's too easy for someone to pull a phone bill out of the garbage or pretend to call a company as you to access information.

Great article, thanks for bringing more attention to this!

[peter]

Great site very interesting read thank you…cheers Peter

[Falko]

Enjoy reading articles on the issue of mobile phone hacking. They are full of different hacking methods and quite challenging. Thank you!