They could strike at any moment
They know where you are. And wherever you are, cyber bandits can invade your privacy, steal your identity and even take your money through the seemingly safe electronic gadgets that you use every day.
SMARTPHONE TRACKING
How cyber bandits get you: Smartphones feature GPS applications that provide driving directions and, often, geolocation applications that share your whereabouts with friends.
The location-tracking systems of Apple iPhones and iPads and of Google Android handsets recently came under criticism from members of Congress who expressed concerns about the potential for criminal activity.
The danger is that if a hacker gains access to your location information, he/she could stalk you, kidnap you or even figure out when you’re out and burglarize your home.
Example: Last year, police in Nashua, New Hampshire, broke up a three-man burglary ring that had stolen more than $100,000 in valuables by breaking into the homes of more than 50 people who had shared their whereabouts with friends online.
What to do: Don’t post your location on services such as Facebook and Twitter. Also, skip geolocation services such as Foursquare, Gowalla and Facebook Places. For maximum security, look in “Settings” for instructions on disabling your smartphone’s location services entirely. Mapping, weather and other location-based apps still should work in most cases, but you will have to enter your location manually.
MOBILE COMMERCE ACCOUNT THEFT
How they get you: As smartphones become more common, banks, credit card companies and retailers are likely to allow consumers to use their smartphones to make payments and other financial transactions. The trouble is, testing suggests that with today’s technology, these smartphone payments might not be completely secure. Hackers could steal account information wirelessly… or pickpockets could steal your smartphones and make transactions using your accounts.
What to do: At a minimum, if you use mobile commerce applications, you should password-protect your smartphone and check your credit card and bank accounts frequently for any unauthorized transactions. Better yet, do not use your smartphone for mobile commerce at all — at least until it is in very wide use and has been proved safe.
CELL-PHONE EAVESDROPPING
How they get you. You receive a text message that appears to come from your bank — or some other trusted institution — warning of a problem with your account. But when you click a link in this text message, it actually downloads software onto your phone that lets a criminal listen in on future calls, read your text messages, see photos taken with the phone, track your location or even listen to in-person conversations when the phone is nearby. The criminal could gain access to your e-mail and computer files, too, or even your credit card or bank account information if you use the phone to make online purchases.
What to do: Never click a link in a text message unless you are certain that the message was sent by someone you trust. Keep your cell phone on your person whenever you are away from home, reducing the odds that a criminal will find the phone unguarded and load malicious software onto it. BlackBerries and smartphones using the Symbian operating system, such as smartphones from Nokia, appear to be particularly susceptible to such spyware.
Example: In 2007, a stalker is believed to have gained access to the cell phones used by three families in a suburb of Tacoma, Washington, and used that access to record the families’ private conversations. He then called the families anonymously, played those conversations back as proof of his access to them and made death threats.
CAMERA VIRUSES
How they get you: You connect your digital camera (or video camera) to a public computer in a hotel lobby or an Internet caf
