{"id":19313,"date":"2016-06-27T15:34:02","date_gmt":"2016-06-27T21:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/?p=19313"},"modified":"2018-10-05T14:45:53","modified_gmt":"2018-10-05T20:45:53","slug":"how-to-prevent-phone-hacking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https://www.webroot.com/blog/2016\/06\/27\/how-to-prevent-phone-hacking\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Prevent Phone Hacking and Sleep Like a Baby Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was only a matter of time before phone hacking rose to the top of the media-driven hysteria list<\/h2>\n

Thanks to the rapid growth of mobile device adoption and the subsequent rapid growth in mobile threats,\u00a0phone hacking prevention is a hot topic. A\u00a0headache reserved for celebrities in the past, smartphone-infiltration\u00a0concerns have crossed the VIP vs. everyone else\u00a0<\/em>blood-brain barrier and now potentially impacts anyone who owns a smartphone.<\/p>\n

But is this really<\/em> a serious problem for us regular folks? Are our voicemail messages so interesting that someone would invade our privacy to listen in? Before we go barking up the narcissism tree, it\u2019s best to examine what phone hacking is and whether you really need to worry about it.<\/p>\n

With everything I\u2019ve got going on, do I need to worry about my phone’s security?<\/h3>\n

This security threat can be broken down into two types:\u00a0hacking into a live conversation or into someone\u2019s voicemail, and hacking into data stored on one\u2019s smartphone. Just as the majority of abductions are carried out by a member of the abductee\u2019s family\u2014unless you go by code name POTUS or are Hugh Grant\u2014the person most likely to hack into your live conversation or voicemail will be someone that you know who has an ax to grind.<\/p>\n

And in today\u2019s mobile world, mobile security is a growing issue. As people increasingly store sensitive data on their mobile devices<\/a>, the opportunity to exploit privacy weaknesses becomes more tempting to unscrupulous ‘frenemies’, exes or the occasional stranger.<\/p>\n

It doesn’t help that there\u00a0is a cottage industry of software ostensibly developed for legal uses but is easily abused (password crackers aptly named ‘John the Ripper’ and ‘Cain and Abel’ are two examples). Opportunistic hackers can wreak havoc with data deletion or install malicious software that gathers bank account logins and confidential business emails.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s a smartphone owner to do?<\/h3>\n

If you want to be proactive, there are several measures you can take to protect yourself against this threat, most of which involve common sense. For example:<\/p>\n