Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Don't Get "BlueJacked"

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 13:46:21 -0500

Don't Get "BlueJacked"
Bluejacking Messaging Scam Unfolds in Europe

Bluejacking, the act of using Bluetooth technology to send an anonymous
short-range text message from one cell phone to another person's cell phone, is
becoming a growing concern in Europe. Websites are popping up across the region
displaying instructions for bluejacking. No law is currently in place
prohibiting the act that takes advantage of a built-in feature in
Bluetooth-capable phones, which when activated, seeks out other equipped
handsets and sets up a cost-free link that allows people to send SMS.

=====================================================================

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-1112bluetooth,0,501534.story?coll=sfla-business-headlines

Cell phone messaging takes a mischievous turn with
bluejacking

By MATT MOORE
Associated Press
November 12, 2003, 4:25 PM EST

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- The group of lanky tourists strolling through Stockholm's
old town never knew what hit them.
As they admired Swedish handicrafts in a storefront window, one of their cell
phones chirped with an anonymous note: ``Try the blue sweaters. They keep you
warm in the winter.''

The tourist was ``bluejacked'' _ surreptitiously surprised with a text message
sent using a short-range wireless technology called Bluetooth.

As more people get Bluetooth-enabled cell phones _ both sender and recipient
need them for this to work _ there is bound to
be more mischievous messaging of the unsuspecting.

It's a growing fad, this fun with wireless.

Already, Web sites are offering tips on bluejacking, and collections of startled
reactions are popping up on the Internet. One site, www.bluejackq.com, was set
up a British teenager.

``I bluejacked three or four people,'' said 13-year-old Ellie of Surrey, who
runs the site and makes bluejacking a daily affair.  ``But one of them was
particularly memorable. He was with his wife and I bluejacked him in a coffee
shop. The look on his face!''

Using Bluetooth, which has a range of about 30 feet, she sent him a note asking
how his coffee was and noting that she liked his
wife's glasses.

Ellie said he looked and high and low and tried to figure out where the message
came from, even sending text messages back
and forth with his wife, but to no avail.

Bluetooth is fast becoming a standard on new cell phones, though Forrester
Research says only 9 percent of phones in Europe
currently feature it. The technology is also available in the United States.

The technology is handy for those who want to use wireless headsets with their
phones or, for example, send data from the phones to Bluetooth-enabled printers.
Wireless keyboards and computer mice also employ it.
In bluejacking, the provocateur takes advantage of a built-in feature in
Bluetooth-capable phones that allows people to send each other their contact
information.

On most phones, that service is switched on by default.
When Bluetooth is activated, it automatically seeks out other equipped handsets
and sets up a link.

Bluetooth phones can be configured to block anonymous messaging, but people who
carry them don't necessarily know that.
A bluejacker could even send someone a photo taken with a camera phone using
Bluetooth. It doesn't cost a thing since the message isn't being routed through
any phone company.

Ellie, whose parents asked that her last name not be used, likes how the
Bluetooth messaging feature lets her buzz a large crowd of people. Everybody in
range gets the message.

``In the e-mail field I always write 'You've been bluejacked by jellyellie,''
said Ellie.
She combs shopping malls with her friends, seeking recipients of unsuspected
messages. But she has yet to be bluejacked herself.

``I'm still waiting for that day,'' she said. ``That would be great!''
--
    "NEXTEL-1 IT'S NOT JUST NEXTEL"
  Note The New address
Subscribe to Nextel-1: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL-1

  "NEXTEL2 FOR iDEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS"
Subscribe to Nextel2: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL2

  "WIRELESS FORUM HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP"
     The Complete Resource for Wireless Homeland Security.
Subscribe to WFHSG:  http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/WFHSG

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada.
http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/