Lookout Demonstrates How Easy It Is To Hack A Phone

Lookout CEO John Hering showed everyone just how easy it is for a phone to be hacked. At All Thing's D's conference, D: Dive Into Mobile, Hering worked together with All Things D's Liz Gannes to demonstrate a few examples of common hacks that can affect phones. Hering says that there is a "fundamental shift in the attacks on mobile devices in a post-PC era," and that its very easy to spoof emails.

The example that Hering demonstrated involved sending a phishing email. He used two phones, one that acted as the hacker, and the other the victim. The phishing email was sent from what appeared to be All Things D's boss, Walt Mossberg, to the victim's phone's inbox. The email looked real, and also had an attachment to a free game app. The email showed just how easy it is to get a recipient to download and install an attachment.

After the victim installed the attachment, which was really a malware-infested app, the hacker phone was able to gain access to the other phone's sensitive information. Hering demonstrated this by showing that he could see all of the other phone's SMS text messages. But seeing SMS text messages is just one example of what these hackers can do. They can also acceses private information, reset your passwords, and lock you out of your phone and your accounts.

Hering says that many people, even smart people, can succumb to these hacks. He provides several (common sense) tips that people can use to protect themselves, their mobile devices, and their private information. He says that you should always be cautious about the links people ask you to download/install. He says only download apps from legitimate sources, like Google Play, and he says that you should always check the permissions the app is requesting to access before installing it. He also recommends that you should install security apps, like Lookout, NQ Mobile, Avast, Kaspersky, or other similar services to further protect yourself.

[via All Things D]