With traditional identity theft channels now closing, fraudsters are increasingly targeting unprotected voice conversations to obtain confidential insider information, passwords and PIN codes without detection. Voice correspondence is almost always uncharted territory for business security armour under the false assumption that phone hacking is a highly sophisticated and expensive means of attack.The days of phone fraud involving thousands of pounds of equipment and an extensive army of technology experts are long gone. Only in December it was revealed that a computer engineer had broken the algorithm used to encrypt the majority of the world’s digital mobile phone calls online, and published his method...
...when assessing the threat posed by phone fraudsters and criminals, we need look no further than the regular examples of celebrity phone eavesdropping that is becoming commonplace. Even high profile national newspapers like the News of the World have become embroiled in the scandal, resulting in one of their reporters being jailed for listening in on calls between members of the royal family. Liberal Democrat Lembit Opik recently went public saying he was concerned his phone calls were being intercepted and PR guru Max Clifford settled a hacking dispute out of court for a six-figure sum. And who can forget the case of Tiger Woods, who found himself in hot water after several voicemail and text messages fell in the lap of numerous national newspapers and celebrity magazines.
These celebrity incidents are serious enough, but business leaders and public sector chiefs now need to readdress their approach to voice and message security, to protect themselves against this growing threat.
Increasingly, phone fraudsters are being hired or trained by rival businesses, getting insider information and critical data without ever being suspected. (more)
Information about Cell Phone Privacy is available with a google search. Businesses, however, require additional assistance with making sure their phones (analog, digital and VoIP digital) remain untapped. Quarterly inspections by a TSCM security specialist are the norm. For additional information about these services click here, or contact the company who provided this link to Kevin's Security Scrapbook.
