Know The 5 Ways Your Smartphone Can Be Hacked

Smartphone Hacking
Is someone trying to hack your phone? The answer to this question is most likely “yes” – regardless of whether you're a person of particular interest to hackers or not. You can be in the office from anywhere, accessing your calls, emails, group chats and company files on the move. But how often do you stop and think about how secure your mobile is? We’re all used to hearing about computers being hacked. Whilst it’s admittedly more of a challenge to hack an itinerant, it’s still very much a chance. With more and more of our business communication moving to our mobile devices, it’s something every organization should be proactively defending against. With that said, what are the most common ways mobile phones can be hacked? Here are 5 common ways shared by PhD dissertation writing services about phone hacking that you should be aware of:

Tracking and Wiretapping Through SS7:
Signaling System 7 (SS7) is an almost 50-year-old protocol that connects most mobile networks worldwide and allows services like roaming and call forwarding. it's a bit rusty, and so is its security. On the other hand, hacking into it allows attackers to track the location of any mobile phone around the globe and intercept the calls and texts coming on and off it. All they need is the associated phone number. There is little you can do to counter that kind of attack. If you're a subject of interest to someone who has the capabilities to hack SS7 – which may be anyone from governments, to petty cybercriminals – your device can be tracked. However, you can ensure the content of your communications remains secured by using apps that offer end-to-end encryption.


Eavesdropping On You via an IMSI-Catcher:
The protocols used by all mobile phones are pretty old and not particularly secure. one of the flaws in them is that a device always identifies a cell tower with its IMSI number, but the cell tower doesn’t have to. and because phones always connect to the tower emitting the strongest signal – usually the nearest one – it's not that hard to lure a device to connect to a fake cell tower. This is, in essence, what an IMSI-catcher (or Stingray) device is. Once an attacker tricks your device to attach to their tower, they can relay your communications and read the unencrypted content. To avoid that you can use an IMSI-catcher detector app, which can assist you to avoid fake cell towers.

Infecting A Device With Malware Or Spyware:
The apps on your phone have access to all types of information stored on it. This includes your contacts, browsing history, saved logins, your location, etc. And even if all of those are stored in an encrypted kind, a keylogger spyware app can bypass that by monitoring what your kind before it ever gets encrypted. Attackers either need to have physical access to the phone, so they can install the apps themselves – or have you do it if you download software from shady third-party stores. the best you can do is put a password on your lock screen and never venture outside the Google Play store.


Intercepting Your Communications Over Free Wi-Fi:
Whoever operates a network also sees the unencrypted traffic going through it. this is as true for Wi-Fi as it is for mobile operators. And while a carrier is a legit company that operates its networks under a number of regulations, anyone can set up a Wi-Fi hotspot. Setting up a free one next to a building or cafe – and naming it with the establishment’s name – is a way to lure in unsuspecting customers to connect. Once they do, the attacker can access all the unencrypted emails and messages that go through it. the solution here is to avoid using free Wi-Fi and to encrypt all your web traffic and communications.

Extracting Your Information Through A USB Charger:
The USB chargers of most smartphones don’t just power the battery, but can also transmit data on and off the device when connected to a computer. while this will be helpful for loading files on the device and saving some precious megabytes from your data plan, it's also an attack vector. In many versions of Android, the device mounts the hard drive as soon as the cable is connected to a computer. The latter can be set up to automatically upload malware or spyware when this happens. So, try not to charge your phone on public computers, or ones that you don’t trust. You best just use a good old wall socket to charge your device.

Albert Barkley

Hello, my name is Albert Barkley. I am working as education consultant with a UK based firm after completion of my PhD. I like to write on different social, tech and education trends.

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