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Bluetooth security advice, hide or turn off ?
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Posted February 27, 2008 at 10:45AM
I read plenty of advice to turn bluetooth off when not in use on the mobile phone to avoid bluejacking, however I don't really want to turn it on and off as it will be used alot.
Is it just as safe to 'hide' it, or is this similar to hiding a wifi SSID in that it is really not secure at all ?
If hiding is not secure, is turning it off when not in use the only secure way to use it ?
Likes # 0
Posted March 15, 2008 at 7:57PM
You might aswell turn if of.
Hiding it is probably the same as turning it of.
Hiding it can waste your battery, as well as keeping it on.
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Posted March 13, 2008 at 12:35PM
Oh, and yes, there ARE some very interesting names out there. 9 in our office today have not bothered to hide ! Some people have no shame :-)
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Posted March 13, 2008 at 12:33PM
Bluejacking was common on some of the earlier models, but I think the mobile producers have got it cracked now and it's all pretty secure.
I lent my W300i to a keen mate who had a go but couldn't get anywhere. Even when he paired I had to accept and even when I did he couldn't do anything from his end.
Having said that, he was no expert cracker and maybe the people who do this kind of thing have some special software which lets them ? Having said that, refer to sentence 1 above.
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Posted March 1, 2008 at 9:39AM
I tried this on a train journey once, and you are so right! The mind boggles, and I quickly returned my bluetooth setting to off!
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Posted February 29, 2008 at 7:03PM
It's very interesting to do a bluetooth search of devices in a public place. Some people give their phones some interesting names!
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Posted February 29, 2008 at 3:59AM
I always turn mine off when not in use and have it hidden when on (I turn it off only to save battery life more than anything).
You have to use your mobile as you see fit, if turning bluetooth on and off is a pain (and you use bluetooth allot)leave it on, but dont allow it to be detectable.
If you leave it in hidden mode (IE not detectable to everyone but your paired devices) your chances of being bluejacked are close to nil.
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Posted February 28, 2008 at 10:50PM
using Hide will stop you using it as well as others. Switching the Bluetooth off will save you quite a bit of battery power as Bluetooth is very power hungry
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Posted February 28, 2008 at 10:49PM
You have to give the other person permission to use your phone. It will generally show a popup message asking you if you want such andsuch user to have access, you just say no and access is denied...
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Posted February 28, 2008 at 9:28AM
Indeed, but if it is an important work phone, with semi confidential info on it, the worry is that the info / contacts etc could be stolen or premium rate numbers dialled while you walk past.
I'm just wondering if 'hiding' the bluetooth on the phone makes it secure enough, rather than having to turn it on and off all the time.
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Posted February 27, 2008 at 6:18PM
I leave mine on all the time. Never had any problems.
The bluejacking stories that you hear are just warning you that it COULD happen.
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