Last updated April 12, 2019
Users of new and old cell phones are in danger of having their accounts broken into by hackers. Cell phone hacking has been at the top of the new for the last few weeks thanks to the scandal currently enfolding Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, but anyone can have their phone broken into by anyone else, according to experts.
PIN codes are used to allow subscribers to wireless providers, including the likes of Verizon, to access their messages yet many providers do not, meaning that hackers could easily be accessing other people’s private information.
Such details could lead to dangerous consequences in the real world, according to crime analyst Ken Jefferson. “A person getting to know you by listening to your voicemail, who you talk to, where you meet people,” Jefferson warns.
ID spoofing services are also used by some hackers, as such services allow them to pretend to be calling from the user’s number even though they are actually not, another way that a hacker can access someone else’s voicemail.
“You can call SpoofCard and have them call someone else that you don’t want to see your ID,” says Dr Walter Eaton, a professor in information security who works at Florida State College in Jacksonville.
Using a security code of no less than four digits to keep the phone secure is the best defense, according to experts.