Business users be warned - your business card may be giving up your mobile security. Up until now, it was presumed that SMS was relatively secure. But with the recent growth of smartphones, (including those that run Internet Explorer), the stakes have been raised.
Hacking your mobile now appears to be deceptively simple according to a YouTube tutorial posted by security firm, Trust Digital. Smartphone users are forewarned to be vigilant against the detection of any suspicious SMS's.
The YouTube video in question shows just how easy it is to hack your mobile phone with a few simple SMS instructions.
The hack, known as 'Midnight Raid', takes its name from the time of day it preys on its victims, many of whom are business users with unsecured smartphones.
The basic gist of the hack involes easy-to-source online hacking tools (that we imagine wouldn't take long to find with a quick Google search) and a mobile phone to send an SMS to the victim. The SMS automatically opens Internet Explorer on the victim's phone, starts up an executable file, steal some data off the victim's smartphone and send it back to the hacker's phone via SMS. And chances are this all happens while you're sleeping without you ever knowing.
Even INSI information, thought to be stored securely on the phone's SIM card is fair game for this exploit.
It's worth noting that some smartphones carry better security settings than others and having your phone rigged to automatically open text messages might not be the best idea if you value your security. Suspicious SMS messages should not be opened without verifying the source first.