I read an article last week on the recent phone hacking case in the UK and I was quite disappointed in the write-up because it understates the problem of phone hacking. The actual fact is that the phone hacking case has nothing to do with smartphones. Even a normal entry level Nokia phone can be hacked.
Reason? The UK's case have to do with the voice mail service. This service does not rely on the phone model in order to function and it will work on any entry level phones. This particular phone hacking incident will only result in the user losing their voice mails. Whatever that is in the phone will be unaffected.
It is true however that the smartphones can be hacked, resulting in you losing some of the data. The reason is because most of the smartphones now are like mini computers. Once connected to the Internet, they are vulnerable to hacking, similar to any computers out there that are connected.
That is why it's recommended to upgrade your smartphone operating system whenever an upgrade/patch has been received. This upgrade/patch will usually resolve some of the security issues. Even clicking on a harmless link on your smartphone browser may open your smartphone to further hacking attempts. However, do be warned that if you jailbreak your phone, you're more vulnerable to hacking as the jailbreaking mechanism will usually open a backdoor to allow others to access your phone.
Morale of the story? Do not underestimate the power of Internet. Once you're connected to it, anything can happen.
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