May 28, 2024

The Hidden Dangers of Bluetooth: What You Need to Know

Show Notes
Transcript

Welcome to another episode of “Let’s Talk About Scams,” hosted by Joyce Petrowski, founder of R.O.S.E. Resources / Outreach to Safeguard the Elderly. In this episode, Joyce discusses the alarming rise of Bluetooth-related scams with Paige Hanson from SecureLabs. They dive into various threats such as Blue Snarfing, Blue Bugging, Blue Jacking, and Blue Smacking, explaining how cybercriminals exploit Bluetooth connections to steal information, send malicious messages, and cause disruption. Paige provides valuable tips on how to protect your devices and maintain your security without sacrificing the convenience of Bluetooth technology. Episode Takeaways

Blue Snarfing: Cybercriminals steal information like photos, texts, and emails via Bluetooth, often leading to identity theft.
Blue Jacking: Hackers send unsolicited phishing messages through Bluetooth, which can contain harmful links.
Blue Bugging: Criminals gain secret access to devices via Bluetooth to impersonate the user and steal data.
Blue Smacking: A type of attack that sends oversized data packets to force a device to shut down.
Security Tips: Always turn off Bluetooth in public areas, make your device non-discoverable, and regularly clean up old Bluetooth connections.

Resources

SecureLabs - Paige Hansen’s organization for cybersecurity solutions.

Remember, knowledge is power—subscribe to “Let’s Talk About Scams” podcast to stay updated on ways to safeguard your well-being against scams. Share what you’ve learned with your loved ones and stay vigilant. Stay safe and informed! Visit https://www.roseadvocacy.org/ for additional resources and newsletters to safeguard against scams. Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for individual professional / legal advice. The podcast information was carefully compiled from vetted sources and references; however, R.O.S.E. Resources / Outreach to Safeguard the Elderly cannot guarantee that you will not fall victim to a scam.

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WEBVTT

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Welcome to Let's talk about scams. I'm your host, Joyce Petrowski,

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founder of Rose Resources Outreach to Safeguard the Elderly, and

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I'm glad you've joined me today. You can find more

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resources on our website at Roseadvocacy dot org. You can

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sign up for our email and or our mailed newsletter.

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You'll find our social media links, and you'll find the

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links from Apple and Spotify for this podcast. So today

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we're going to talk to a guest, Paige Hansen with

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Secure Labs, about scams involving hijacking your bluetooth. Well, hi, Page,

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thank you for joining me today.

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Thanks for having me, Joyce.

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Yeah, absolutely so. In the last couple of weeks a

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friend of mine sent me a news article or not article.

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It was actually on the news here in Phoenix about

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They called it blue jacking, blue snow thing in blue bugging.

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Guessing it has something to do with bluetooth, because they

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all do.

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They all have a theme.

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Yes, anyways, so let's get started. I don't know which

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one you want to tackle first. Do they all kind

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of mean the same thing?

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Well, you know, they all mean it's with your bluetooth,

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and you know the Bluetooth can be extremely helpful, right,

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So you usually have it on because you've got maybe

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a watch connected or maybe your headphone set connected, and

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so you want it to be you know, discoverable because

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you want to connect certain things or you know, for me,

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I use the Bluetooth in my TV to cast you know,

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if I'm doing a workout or something, I want to

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cast it. And so there's there's meaningful ways that we're

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using Bluetooth, and you know, we want the convenience that

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it's just on, so as convenient as that is. Fraudsters

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pick up on that, you know, and they say, this

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is a discoverable that we can essentially infiltrate a device.

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And so I'll give you tips here at the end.

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But there are some terms that have come come up.

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So like you said, there's blue snarfing, blue bugging, blue jacking,

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blue snack smacking, all of them. I know all of

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them have to do with blue tooth. So at the

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end of the day, the cyber criminals are using your

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connection to your Bluetooth. They're getting into your device via

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your bluetooth. So it's easy we can disable your Bluetooth.

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But let me walk through exactly what these criminals are doing.

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So the first one is blue snarfing, So that is

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when it's a certain type of cyber attack that steals

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your information. So it includes let's say your photos, text messages, emails,

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but it does it via the bluetooth. So it could

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often lead to identity theft because imagine you know, somebody's

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taking your photos and your text messages and your emails.

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They can pretend to be you, right, yeah, and so

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they're able to get in via bluetooth because it's you

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typically usually have it indiscoverable mode. So again where we

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talk about the convenience, so your watch can connect right

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right exactly, yeah, yeah, So that's called blue snarfing. Then

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there is a term called blue jacking, so that's when

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another device sends unsolicited phishing messages through bluetooth. So this

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can contain usually malicious links. Sounds complicated, it kind of

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is in a way, but at the end of the day,

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what they're doing is they're just using your device to

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send out these phishing messages, but it's through your bluetooth.

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So it actually looks like it's coming from you.

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These links can be malicious, meaning that if if you

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or someone else clicks on them, it's going to make

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it so their device could be potentially have malware or

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some sort of virus, and so that can be not

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great because they're using you to do that. So that's

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called blue jacking.

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So a hacker gets into your let's say phone, through

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your bluetooth, they can send emails and text messages, and

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it's going to say like, I did that through your Bluetooth.

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Then I could send emails and text messages to your

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contacts and have it look like it's coming from you.

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No, usually it's they're they're taking that information. Now they

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can easily create an account and pretend to be you.

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But it's now they can they know your photos. So

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for instance, they could send a photo like Joyce and I.

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You know, we took a picture last week together at

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a networking event. I could easily somebody could take that

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and text you and say, hey, it's page I got

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a new number. But here's the picture that we took

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last week. It was so great seeing you. Well, I

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click on the picture, it can now include a malicious

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link in that photo. So when I open the photo attachment,

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then now I'm compromised.

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Okay, got it.

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It's almost like they gain credibility because they know how

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you talk, they know who your contacts are, and then

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they have emails but back and forth, so they know

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they can just reply from that.

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So so they can scour through all that and kind

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of see who you talk to all the time, and

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like you said, what your voices and all that exactly

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that's scary.

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And now with AI, all I have to do is

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copy paste all your emails, put them in AI and say, okay,

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you know, create a you know, a greeting or an

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email to so and so based off of how I've

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interacted with them, and so it'll even spit out the

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same tone and sentiments that you use. You know, if

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you use you know, if you write all the words out,

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or if you use abbreviations, it'll you know, do that

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as well happen. Ok, yeah, all right, we'll pick up.

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There is a term it's called blue bugging. So that's

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when a cyber criminal gains access to your device using

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a secret Bluetooth connection to access private data. And so

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that makes them this is what you're talking about, is

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blue bugging. So that helps them impersonate the user because

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they've gained access to your device with a secret Bluetooth.

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So just as easy as it is to connect your watch,

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they have now connected something else, some other sort of device,

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and now they can impersonate you.

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So that's where they can get in to your email

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and send emails pretending to be you.

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Right, because they're essentially taking over your device.

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Okay, so that's that's blue bugging, blue bugging.

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I know it's hard to keep all these straight, right,

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So well you just remember there's there's a bug in

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your device. Yes, that is exactly right, yes, all right, yes.

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And the last one, it's it's probably the most sophisticated

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of the crimes. It's called blue smacking, and it's a

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specific denial of service. They call this a d attack

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to force a device to shut down through oversized data packets.

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And what this means is basically, somebody is sending so

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much information to your phone, your phone can't process that,

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so it ends up just shutting down.

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So what would be the benefit of that?

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Then what is the benefit of half the criminals? You know,

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they just do it to cause ruckus half the attack,

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that's true, you know, And so it's then it's causing

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you to say, oh my goodness, what's you know, then

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you don't have access to your phone. So here's an example.

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Maybe maybe you know somebody who has a I'm just

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thinking of like corporate espionage. You know, like you know

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they are having a big investor meeting and they're doing

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it the phone through their phone, and so that you

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do a specific DEDOS attack and you down their phone

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so they're not able to have that or they're scrambling

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to have a call. That's I mean example from like

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a corporate standpoint, but you could insert that sort of

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scenario into anybody maker.

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So it's not necessarily that they might want to take

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over your identity or get your files. It's more of

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they're going to cause you grief because they're going to

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shut your phone down you can't use it.

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Yes, and the same goes. I mean that sort of

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attack happens on companies' websites. You'll get all this traffic.

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And that's why sometimes when you go to a retailer's

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website and it's not working, oftentimes it's some sort of

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attack that the criminals are trying to just either cause

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ruckus or news or you know whatever. Who knows what

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the skill set of the fraudster is and what their

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endgame is but that's just typically a scenario.

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Got it. Okay, well that's interesting. So what's the best thing.

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I know? I use Bluetooth, and I normally use it

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when I'm in my car. You know, I play my

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playlist from my phone on my car radio right to

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listen to it. But the thing is is I don't

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turn it off. I just leave it on.

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It definitely needs to be part of your routine, something

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that that I do. So I have my device here

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and I swipe down and then I have access you know,

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these are all my settings. I can easily just click

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this the bluetooth and turn it off, you know, when

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I'm not and because really what you want to do

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is turn it off when you're in public areas Joyce,

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when you're getting into your car. I would not I

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would not consider that a public area. Same with you know,

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if I were to go just the grocery store and back,

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I'm I'm going to have my bluetooth on. I want

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my watch on tracking my steps because it's not tracking me.

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Am I really walking? I mean I'm not so. But

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that's one thing you can do. You know, if you're

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at the airport and you're not using your Bluetooth, and

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you know that's maybe a scenario. You could just turn

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it off, but there is a setting within your device.

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You can be discoverable or not discoverable. And that's what

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makes it so we can go out and I feel

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more comfortable because I'm not discoverable. When you make yourself discoverable,

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that would be like your TV for instance, that is

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constantly discoverable and I can just cast onto my TV.

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You don't want to be your TV. You don't want

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anybody just to be able to connect with you.

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Well, right, because your TV's in your house, right, it's

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not moving locations, right, But what if someone's sitting out

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in front of your house.

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My neighbor absolutely could cast something through my TV.

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Or I've heard a lot of these smart TVs have

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cameras in them.

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Yes, they could take over. This is an example exactly, Joyce.

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This is an example of why yes should That is

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one area because we have one TV. It's actually the

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TV in my garage, so if something crazy is going

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on in my garage it would be surprise to me.

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But our other TVs you have to have like a

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pin number to be able to access. But the one

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in our garage is discoverable all the time. But this

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would be an example of turning that off. You know,

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if we really wanted to, your phone is a place

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where you should you should turn that off.

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Someone gets into your Bluetooth normally, won't it give you

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a message that says someone another device wants to pair.

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There are safeguards in place. But then also to the

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other side, if it's a certain type of one of

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these scam Bluetooth scams, they can just bypass that because

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they have access to your device, so they're saying okay,

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so if you're not paying attention.

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It'll be like they'll automatically make themselves one of your

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favorite Bluetooth connections or something like that.

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Exactly that.

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And then so what about like I recently when I

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got a new about three months ago, I had had

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some old watches that were still on there. They weren't connected,

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but they were still on there. Yes, my old car

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was still on there but not connected. So it's always

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good I would imagine every now and then to go

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into your Bluetooth settings and if you have items that

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you don't use anymore, like an old car, an old

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you know, watch, whatever it is that you go in

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and tell it to forget this device. I think you

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just click on it or click the eye next to it,

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eye next to it, and then yeah, and then it'll

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come up and you just I think it's down at

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the bottom and you just say forget this device, and

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then it just takes it away. Yeah.

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I mean, because like me, I have, you know, the

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things I normally use, which is my watch, but then

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I have like no number of speakers, you know, so

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it's like I do we have a Bose speaker, we

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have another speaker, we have another speakers, so like just

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different speakers and there's ones I haven't used in a

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long time, but there's still are speakers. I could probably

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just take those off. You know, it's really up to you.

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But yeah, if you have an old watch or you know,

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like I used to have a fitbit, I used to

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be on there. I looked on there, I'm like, I

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don't need to have that on there.

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So definitely no one thing I just thought of, you know,

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because you know, a handful of times throughout the year

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when I'm traveling, will rent a car, right and so

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I know a lot of people and I've been very

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cognizant of it, like if I'm going to connect my Bluetooth,

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I make sure when I'm turning that car in, I

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go in and say forget this connection or whatever it is.

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When I go to connect on the car bluetooth, you

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know screen, it shows all these other people's Bluetooth. So

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does once I say forget this device, then does it

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forget it on the car's thing as well?

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You do need to go onto the car and say

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forget this device. Because your name and depending on how

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you have your name, so like for me, on my phone,

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my name is Page Hanson, but on my phone, I

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think I'm just like PE, like my number, you know,

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like my letter P, you know, versus like my name.

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So not giving away a whole lot of information, but

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people that stay connected to those there is you know,

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there's depending on how the version of the software of

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the car company. But you can sometimes go in and

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see them their contact lists and you sometimes can't make calls,

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but you can see their contact lists, you can pull

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up their text messages. All of that information could potentially

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be that vulnerable, right because I know when I've connected before,

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it'll say, it'll ask do you want to grant access

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to your contacts?

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You're this and I'm always like no. But like you

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said before, how many people just automatically they want to

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get that connection and they're just like yes, yeah, because

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they think they have to have it. They have to

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say yes in order to get the connection. So yeah,

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that's a really good point that all of a sudden,

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I mean, because what if you rented a car, like

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say your car was in the shop, right and you

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got a rental car and it's right in your neighborhood,

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and now all of a sudden, somebody else is in

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that car and they drive by your house. They're all now,

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your Bluetooth is all of a sudden discoverable on that car,

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and they could go in and depending on how you

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if you said yes, sync with my contacts and text

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messages and all that, yeah, and then what so that

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would be the same thing if you trade your car

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in or if you sell it, you're going to want

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to go in and you're going to want to say,

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forget on the car's Bluetooth system, forget all of these devices.

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Well even if you have programmed in home or some

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of your favorite places. Yeah, I mean, we ah man,

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I feel like we were open like an onion right now,

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where where. It's just like there's so many places where

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you give up. You know, it's the convenience versus security.

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It's like super convenient programmed home, but at the same

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time you program in home and somebody gets in your car,

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all they have to do is pust home. And also

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what is connected to your car your garage door opener,

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click garage door opener, you know. So, I mean it's

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it's it's almost like and we certainly don't want this

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to be a fear based message at all. What it

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is is awareness of the things that there's a trade

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off for convenience. It doesn't mean you can't be convenient,

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but there's a trade off. And when you choose the

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trade off and you choose to be convenient, then there

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has to be someone something over here where then you're

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making it the most secure way to be the convenience part.

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So yeah, there are a lot of things. When you

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get rid of your car, or if you're going to

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let someone else drive it, you know that you have

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to think about right because I know it's on my car,

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it says on the GPS it's home, and then it

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has my right. Thank you so much for getting this

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information out I know when I saw the I think

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it was on Channel three. I was reading it and

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I'm like, blue snarfing, blue bugging, blue, what what is

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going on? What are all these terms?

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Well, and at the end of the day, all of

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those terms deal with your bluetooth, and if you take

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the steps of you know, not making yourself not discoverable

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or turning it off when you're in public areas where

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you don't need it, those really are the best practices.

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And yes, the terms are are crazy, you know, all

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the blue but at the end of the day, it's

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somebody trying to get into your phone via the bluetooth.

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That was a lot of information about bluetooth and how

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to keep yourself safe. You know, I'm going to try

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to remember all of those terms, so blue bugging, blue snarfing,

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blue swatting, and I'm forgetting the fourth one. But the

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main thing here is to remember that if you do

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like to use your bluetooth for a variety of different reasons,

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or even just one like I said, I use it

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to play music in the car, is it's a good

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thing not to keep it turned on all the time.

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And there is a way to make your bluetooth not

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discoverable and I will get those get those steps on

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how to do that for both the Android and Apple phones,

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and we'll put it in the show notes for you.

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And then also remember if you're renting a car, you know,

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and you're connecting your Bluetooth through there, don't say yes

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to everything they ask you. They're going to ask you about,

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you know, if you want to connect your contacts and

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all that. Say no, you're still going to connect through

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Bluetooth if you want to play music or get a

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phone call or something, but tell it no, you do

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not want to let it have access to your contacts.

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And then when you're done with the car and you're

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turning it in, go on the car's Bluetooth and pull

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your or connection up and say forget this device so

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it doesn't automatically come up and people can see that

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you had that car and if you've accidentally given that

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Bluetooth a connection, you know, a connection to your contacts

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and other things on your phone that they're that they

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would be able to see that. So and then also

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on your phone every now and then, make a note

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to go in to your Bluetooth on your phone. And

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you can do this on your laptop, your desktop, your iPad,

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whatever device you have that has Bluetooth enabled. You go

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don't want to go in periodically and you're going to

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see what devices show up on there. They might not

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be connected, but if they're old devices or one time devices,

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go in and click the eye next to it and

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say forget this device and just get it off there,

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because you don't want to, like if you've got it

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connected to someone else's car, you know, a family member's car,

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and every time you're buy that car, it's going to

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try to automatically connect and you don't want that to happen,

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So say forget this device. And so then if you

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do use it on that car and wherever you're at,

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you would have to repair it, which takes an extra

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minute or two, but it's again it's for your safety.

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So thank you for joining me today. And you can

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00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:22.680
go to our website at Roseadvocacy dot org. You can

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00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:26.480
find our social media links and scroll down a little

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00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:28.799
ways on the homepage and you will see how to

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00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:32.799
sign up for our monthly emailed newsletter, and we also

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00:20:32.839 --> 00:20:35.240
put one in the mail. There's a link there that

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00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:37.440
you can sign up for that as well. And if

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00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:39.920
you have anything you'd like me to discuss on a

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00:20:39.960 --> 00:20:46.519
future podcast, Please email info at Roseadvocacy dot org and

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00:20:46.759 --> 00:20:49.079
let us know what you'd like to hear more about

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00:20:49.079 --> 00:20:51.000
and we'll see if we can't get that on. And

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don't forget you're going to want to click subscribe so

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you don't miss an episode of Let's Talk About Scams

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until next time. Thank you, No

The Hidden Dangers of Bluetooth: What You Need to Know

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The Hidden Dangers of Bluetooth: What You Need to Know

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