Friday, July 22, 2011

FinancialEdge: Is Someone Listening To Your Phone Messages?

Most of us put a premium on our privacy, but as the News Corp/News of the World scandal in the U.K. has shown again, we cannot always assume that our privacy is secure. In fact, this current scandal is not all that exceptional. Paris Hilton was subjected to a similar violation about six years ago, and numerous celebrities (including Sienna Miller and Scarlett Johansson) have had their cellphones hacked - often in an attempt to garner some salacious bit of information or compromising photo that can go straight to newstands and websites. (For some ways to keep your information safe, check out Tips For Keeping Your Financial Data Safe Online.)


Not surprisingly, many people are wondering just how safe their technology is and whether or not someone may be listening to their phone messages. So, what steps can people take to minimize the risks that their own information can be stolen from them?

Use a Little Common Sense and Originality
According to a study by Daniel Amitay, and assuming that Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) iPhone users are basically as smart and security-savvy as anybody else, I can dial my way into any iPhone user's voice mail and have about a 5% chance of accessing their voice mail simply by assuming that they used "1234" as their PIN number. Add "0000" and "2580" (which is straight down the middle of a keypad) and the odds jump to almost one-in-10.

To read the complete column, please follow the link below:
http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0711/Is-Someone-Listening-To-Your-Phone-Messages.aspx

No comments: