Your mobile phone can't keep a secret so don't sell it

Stan Beer
Thursday, 31 August 2006 19:02

Your IT - Mobility

Judging by a recent report, it's probably better to take to your old mobile phone with a hammer than sell it on the second hand market because it can reveal all your secrets.

A report from Associated Press recently highlighted the dangers of trying to erase data on your phone and then selling it off on places like eBay.

The problem is that data on phones is relatively easy to resurrect for people who know how. At least with a computer you can reformat your hard drive.

When you think about the sort of information you put into mobile phones it's quite frightening to think what might get into the wrong hands. Aside from the intinate SMS messages, emails and private phone directories, many of us use mobile phones to pay bills by credit card, punching in the numbers and expiry dates.

Many of us also do our internet banking on mobile phones punching in account numbers and pin codes.

Some of us punch in our tax file numbers and, in the US, some may even punch in their social security numbers.

All of this is a mine of information for skilled hackers who may wish to use or onsell this information for unsavoury purposes.

Security experts have for some time warned about the dangers of hacking into phones remotely and enlisting them into zombie networks to broadcast spam using their SMS and email capabilities. It appears that an even greater danger may come from mobile phone owners unwittingly handing over their most intimate details voluntarily for some spare change.