Don’t Get Paris’ed
Lots of upset celebrities were forced to change their mobile phone numbers this week when hotel heiress Paris Hilton’s T-Mobile sidekick II was hacked. An attacker was some how able to login to T-Mobile’s Web-based portal and download all of her camera phone pictures, notes and her address book. And then, they were published to the Web. This humorous snafu has spurred the production of a new t-shirt which reads, “Paris made me change my number.” � Available from Glarkware.com.
Among the problems caused by Paris’s Sidekick being compromised were not only the release of her celebrity friends’ phone numbers and e-mail addresses, but some naughty pictures Paris had taken of herself.
With people relying more and more on their mobile phones and data devices these days, wireless security is becoming more and more important. Here a few tips to keep you secure.
(1) Pick a complex password that consists of numbers and letters. They are more difficult for an attacker to crack. Especially if they are not dictionary words.
(2) Change your passwords often � this will limit the time an attacker is able to have control of your account, or keep them off the trail of getting into your account.
(3) Pick security questions that only you have the answer to. In the case of Paris Hilton, anyone could use Google to find out the name of her dog and answer the security question “What is your favorite pet’s name?” Keep in mind, if you are not a celebrity, social networks make a great resource for hackers.
(4) Use combinations of numbers that are not obvious for your voicemail pass code. Remember, if you are famous and someone has written a bio of you, it’s likely to include your birthday. Or if you use a social network (Friendster, The Facebook, Orkut, etc.), people can pick out your birthday and use that as a four or six digit code, too. You should be scared if we stumbled upon your ATM code or voicemail password.
Be weary if your voicemail does not ask for a PIN when you check it. Using a new technique known as Caller-ID Spoofing, an attacker could spoof your phone number and simply dial in and access your voicemail. This can lead to any number of vulnerabilities, like someone changing your outgoing message or deleting important voicemails.
Keep listening to The Chris Pirillo Show every week and visiting Tylersworld.com for more from me, Tyler Cooper.
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