New Drones Hack Smartphones from the Sky

A new software program known as Snoopy is allowing hackers to use airborne drones to steal personal data from smartphones. The drone can swipe your username, password and GPS location without you knowing it.

Snoopy was actually developed as a means of showing mobile device users just how susceptible they are to being hacked. The National Security Agency uses similar programs as part of their controversial surveillance protocol. CNN reports that the research on Snoopy will be presented at the Black Hat Asia cybersecurity conference in Singapore this week.

How does Snoopy work? By pretending to be a Wi-Fi connection in the area. Mobile devices search for old connections before establishing new ones, and Snoopy pretends to be one of those old connections. Once it has latched onto your phone, it can access all of the device’s Internet activity.

Simple information like your birthday or place of work could be used in identity theft. This is information that many smartphone users have readily available on their devices. The more you put out there, the more someone can use against you.

How can you fight drone hacks of the future?

  • Do not connect to Wi-Fi in public places. If you can use your phone’s data plan without utilizing Wi-Fi, that will be ideal.
  • Keep an eye out for suspicious activity around you.
  • Clear the Internet history on your phone as often as possible.
  • Keep an eye on your credit and financial accounts.

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For more information, contact John Oldshue at 877-529-5560 or john@SaveOnPhone.com. Follow our tweets: @saveonphone

Media Contact: John Oldshue, SaveOnPhone.com, 877-529-5560, john@saveonphone.com