OCU and the Bank of Spain warn about Bluesnarfing, a dangerous scam that uses your iPhone’s Bluetooth.

Bluetooth connection is one of the ones we use most often on our iPhone. Is necessary for device operation for example AirPods or Apple Watch. We even need it to share a file via AirDrop. That’s why many of us don’t deactivate it, since we won’t be able to listen to music or use our Apple Watch. Hackers, scammers and cybercriminals are always on the cutting edge. In this case, they use a vital connection for our devices: indeed, we are talking about Bluetooth.

What is the Bluesnarfing technique?

Let’s admit that names various methods of fraud They are not so easy to remember. Some time ago we talked about the Wangiri method, and now the OCU and the Bank of Spain are warning about Bluesnarfing. But what does it consist of? What does it mean?

Bluesnarfing is a method a hack in which we connect to our device via Bluetooth. The goal is to steal personal information, especially aimed at obtaining logins and bank passwords for making transfers.

What is the method of attacking devices?

The Bluetooth connection has an important limitation – distance. You’ve probably been listening to music before, and when you moved too far from your iPhone, it turned off. The Bluetooth standard has radius from 15 to 90 metersdepending on factors such as walls and devices in the room.

This is why Bluesnarfing hackers take advantage of it. places such as train carriages, hotel lobbies and airport lounges.. Places where people tend to stay for a long time and also have people with high purchasing power.

It should be noted that Bluesnarfing can be done on any devicebe it Android, iPad, Mac… However, hackers prefer to try this with iPhone for financial reasons.

If you’re wondering how cybercriminals can get into our devices They use the Bluediving app.. This application explores security holes in device hardware and software. This is why updating your iPhone software is essential for protection.

Here’s how you can protect your iPhone from Bluesnarfing attacks

The main way to protect yourself from a Bluesnarfing attack is deactivating our iPhone’s Bluetooth connection or devices. However, as we mentioned at the beginning of the article, this affects the usability of the Apple ecosystem. So here’s what you can do to stay protected.

• Update your iPhone software: Apple is constantly researching vulnerabilities to fix this and many other security holes.
• Use your current iPhone model: It’s not that you need to change your iPhone to make it more secure, but in some ways it does have an impact. The latest iPhone models have more advanced Bluetooth chips, and hackers have had less time to find places to attack them. The proof of this is jailbreaking and the fact that it is mostly available for iPhones with older processors.
• Don’t accept Bluetooth connections: You rarely do this unless you connect, but hackers know when to send a message. They may wait while you put on your AirPods for you to accept the message without even realizing it. Think twice before clicking “allow connection”

All in all, update your iPhone and knowing that this method of attack or fraud exists will be enough. So, if at some point there is an incoming connection that you don’t know about, you will know that you will have to give it up. And of course, you will also check from time to time to see if your iPhone is up to date.

Source | OCU

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