iol.co.zaHacking into cellphones is “quite easy”, say local spyware specialists, and it has been commonplace around the world since the technology first came into circulation.
What makes it easy is the fact that few cellphone users bother to set the special PIN codes to allow them to use securely the special feature of accessing their messages from another phone. This means their cellphones remain on the service provider’s default settings – well known to all in the business.
And the user is left vulnerable to hackers such as Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the centre of the UK’s News of the World phone hacking scandal.
But even in cases where the four-digit message default setting has been changed, private investigators say it is relatively easy to access – as long as you have a connection placed inside the particular service provider, or the gift of the “blag” – see sidebar.
Acting on behalf of the tabloid newspaper, Mulcaire – in search of a scoop for his employers – is alleged to have invaded the privacy of not only politicians and celebrities, but also, post-mortem, murdered teenager Milly Dowler and UK soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan and other theatres of war.
More...
Comments