Cell phone hacking

[Griffin NoName]

A friend of a friend** has had his partner hack his phone to find out about his affairs. Apparently very successfully - including conversations.

This is a bluetooth hack and I told my friend that it would only work if the cell phone was geographically close as bluetooth is short range. My friend insists that's not the case and conversations were overheard wherever the phone/partner was. Is there any way this could ever be true?

Additionally. My phone is set up so a code (which I changed from the standard 0000) must be entered during bonding. And I keep bluetooth switched off except when explicitly using it. Surely these basic precautions* are obvious ?  The guy who got hacked claims to be a techy wiz kid and my friend greatly admires him for this. But, to me, it seems pretty basic if one is cheating on a partner and a technical wiz kid, one would avoid this type of hacking.

Am I missing something?

*java needs to be enabled on the phone being hacked too - have an affair~disbale java LOL.

**really, it is a friend, I am not having an affair

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Sounds like a bluetooth worm ('virus'). I don't know if it can truly take that level of control but if that is the case it should be visible in the owner's phone monthly statement (as extra calls/messages to your number).

Perhaps that is just an excuse to get a 2nd anonymous prepaid cellphone (for all those compromising calls?). 

[beagle]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/06/08/bluetooth_mobo_attack/

http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1193476&seqNum=1

Can see how you could make the phone dial out, don't see how you could monitor conversations remotely at a distance unless the network provided some sort of conference call facility that could be subverted, or you intercept the bluetooth signal between a headset and handset with a second phone and forward it conventionally. Maybe headset eavesdropping has advanced since that second article.

Moral:  Don't cheat, or live in a Faraday cage and don't date geeks or people with geeky friends.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Or use a phone without bluetooth capability.