A. Ever since Tyler first posted about his dislike of ‘Bluecasting’ (also known as Bluejacking) , it’s got a lot of people asking me - if it’s so easy to push unwanted information TO a Bluetooth headset, does that mean people can PULL information through my Bluetooth device, too?

The simple answer is yes.

Since almost the very moment Bluetooth was released, hackers have been building ways to crack it.

The first Bluetooth breaches were through an early security hole. Nicknamed “Bluebugging: “, hackers took advantage of this backdoor to eavesdrop as well as access and even overwrite a phone’s address book and text message files. As with any Bluetooth security breach, the hacker had to be within 30 feet of your phone.

Starting in 2005, most new Bluetooth-enabled phones were cured of this, although hackers are always writing new code and new programs to breach security.

As that hole was being plugged, hackers discovered that Bluetooth phones in ‘Discoverable’ mode could be accessed . This is called “Bluesnarfing“.

Unauthorized users ‘pair up’ to your Bluetooth and once linked, can steal the whole of your phone book, that’s your whole contact list, your calendar, your stored pictures, even your ring tones.

There is also something called a ‘DoS’ attack. A Denial-of-Service is a malicious hacker who broadcasts a code that makes your device unavailable to you until it reboots (turned off and then turned on again). There’s usually no breach of your information in a DoS attack, or harm to your headset or phone. It’s just idiocy for idiocy’s sake.

Should these security concerns keep you from buying and using say… a new MoGo headset?No. The good news is that there are things you can do to keep your calls and information safer.

1) Turn off discoverable mode.

Most phones are “visible” (or set to ‘Discoverable mode’) by default when Bluetooth is switched on. The safest mode is ‘Non-discoverable’:

1. Non-discoverable mode: Does not respond to inquiry - highest safety for your phone. .
2. Limited discoverable mode (or ‘Hidden’): Discoverable only for a limited period of time, during temporary conditions or for a specific event - this provides medium safety.
3. General discoverable mode: Discoverable continuously or for no specific condition - no safety from Bluejacking or Bluesnarfing.

2) Use a strong PIN code for you headset.
Not only should you choose a strong PIN, you should also be careful not to use it in public where it can caught by someone watching. If your headset and phone become unpaired, go somewhere private to link them back up .... not standing in the middle of the mall.

3) Never, ever let an unknown device pair to your phone. Periodically watch the Bluetooth symbol on your phone. If it looks different, or you see an unexpected message appear on your device asking to pair up, well, to quote Nancy Reagan - just say NO.

Unsure what the Bluetooth symbol is supposed to look like? Apple has a great article showing all the Bluetooth icons and their meanings here.

4) Keep Moving. PC Today said it well: “Unless your attacker has invested vast amounts of time and money in a long-range Bluetooth transmitter/receiver, chances are great that they will be operating within standard Bluetooth range (within 10 meters [33 feet]). If you notice something wacky happening with your smartphone or PDA and don’t know what else to do, simply get up and move away.

“If you are on a bus, train, airplane, or other confined area, simply power off your device and wait to see who reacts. If you catch them, make sure to give them a dirty look. ”

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On Fridays, MoGo Mobility’s Elizabeth will seek to answer your MoGo (and non-MoGo) technical questions.

Elizabeth is a professional writer & geek with most of the last decade spent in senior management at a leading global IT provider. Thousands have attended her seminars in the US & Canada on subjects ranging from basic TCP/IP networking to high-end data storage solutions.

Got a question? Ask Elizabeth.

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Before embarking on last month’s road trip, we purchased a TomTom global navigation system.

For the past decade, the bulk of my trips have been the fly/rental car variety. Increasingly in the past years, my cars have come equipped with a GPS.

There are few things I hate more than those tiny place-mat maps the Airport car rental places give you.

The only place they have ever successfully steered me is into the freight hangars.

So I took to GPS like a duck to cool, deep puddle and planned on making sure the next car we buy has it factory-installed.

But a portable after-market system in the meantime? Seemed like an unnecessary luxury in this Mapquest world.

Then, the day before embarking on my 10,000-mile boondoggle, my husband came home with a TomTom. Like an adult, I squealed and hopped around the driveway.

The portable system ran us about $300. We chose it over the integrated option with my husband’s Blackberry because, well, I’m the one that does most of the getting lost in this relationship.

The installation was a matter of attaching a suction cup.

With John Cleese telling us to ‘turn left NOW’, off we stepped.

It never occurred to us to check if it would work in Canada. No worries, even in the most rural bits of northern New Brunswick the device knew where to go.

The multiple-stop planning option was outstanding. We were able to integrate all the destinations - client sites, hotels, desired detours - it a single plan. The estimated travel times and on-the-fly recalculations were about 90% correct. Huge improvement over the other systems I’ve used (perhaps a simple matter of the algorithm getting smarter) and Mapquest.

In sum, the gadget steered us faithfully  except for some spells where the satellite signal was not available. The maps clear, construction and traffic avoided, and John’s sardonic wit occasionally shining through the basic ‘go here go there’ dialogue. By the end of the trip, we were ‘instrument driving’ - relying on TomTom  instead of looking out for upcoming exits or traffic.

The only improvement to our experience (excepting stronger satellites) would have been if we’d paired it with a Bluetooth headset like the one MoGo is rolling out. There were long stretches when it would have been nice to route the sound only to the driver’s ears.

Otherwise, I can heartily recommend this as a Father’s Day gift or just a regular Thursday purchase.

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Here at the MoGo Mobility blog, we’re gearing up to celebrate the launch of the MoGo headset with a contest:

“What kind of Bluetooth gadgets do YOU envision?”

As we get ready to kick off, I couldn’t help but think about  the possibilities.

One of the things I would like to see would be an alarm to let me know when I’m about to leave behind my cell phone or iPod (again). I long ago eschewed getting a Treo or Crackberry,  but simplicity has been my foe. Without  a BatBelt holstering my gadgets, I am well-known for digging around in a panic.

Yes, I regularly call myself to find my phone and my iPod has been found everywhere - including the refrigerator.

As it turns out,  an alarm  isn’t a future-tense device.

Sony-Ericsson released the MBW-100 watch  last year that is, you guessed it, Bluetooth-enabled.

In addition to being a decent-looking timepiece,  it connects wirelessly to your phone and displays caller ID and message alerts, plus lets you reject calls and control your phone’s music player.

That’s right, the caller’s name subtly flashes in the face of your watch and with a push of the button, you can send it to voicemail.

My favorite feature? If you  walk away from a paired device, like your phone, it gives you an alarm to let you know.

And yes, it’s compatible with the MoGo headset.

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You know when you’re walking around downtown, or on a subway, or in the grocery store and the person next to you starts talking to you, but when you respond you find out they really weren’t talking to you at all, but to someone on their headset? Yeah, I’ve always wanted to be one of those people, only cooler than those people. That day, my friends, is here.

Makers of the MoGo Mouse just released the world’s thinnest, ultra-light Bluetooth headset, and man oh man is it cool. My favorite part about the whole thing, in true MoGo Mouse fashion, you can charge it by clipping it to a cell phone, or, yes, sliding it into your laptop. Get this, you can now talk, gossip, jabber, yak and spill all those beans for up to 6 hours of talk time on a single charge. People of the world, prepare to look like you’re talking to yourself all over the city!

The ability to stay mobile is paramount in the world today and in that quest to be mobile, what good is it if all the “mobile” products you’re carrying are heavy, require tons of cables and power strips and adapters to work, and actually make you dread being that Road Warrior you know you want to be? No good friends, no good at all. This new product is so cool, it even won an award.  Veteran industry observer Andrew Seybold, presented Newton Peripherals with his “Most Imaginative Product” award last night and even went on to say, “The Headset is unique in both design and concept.  It will store conveniently on the back of a cell phone, ready to be used at a moment’s notice. Newton Peripherals’ approach to simplifying the use and storage of phone headsets is novel, and deserving of recognition.”  Here is the official press release of this sweet new product…live it, love it: Read the rest of this entry »

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