Spammed by Bluetooth 311
An Anonymous Reader writes "BBC News is reporting a new craze - using Bluetooth to send unsolicited messages. Apparently lots of phone owners are leaving Bluetooth switched on, meaning that anyone within range can send a short message. The phenomenon is known as "bluejacking". It's not clear at present that this is being done by anyone other than pranksters, but one can't help wondering, how long before commercial spammers catch on."
Yeah, I've done this. (Score:5, Interesting)
I've used this feature also to send quick notes to cow-orkers at the office when they were on the phone or we were busy in a meeting. It's handy and saves the absurd ten cent charge applied to an outbound SMS.
It's only a matter of time before it's rendered useless due to spam, I'm sure.
Re:Yeah, I've done this. (Score:4, Funny)
Easily identified by their Gateway workstations.
Re:Yeah, I've done this. (Score:5, Insightful)
Could easily be abused... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Could easily be abused... (Score:5, Funny)
I would prefer damaging it so that they have to send someone to repair it, we all then wait for him or her and corner them, after they loose five or six people they'll think twice of sending out a repair crew.
Yeah! Anarchy!
Re:Yeah, I've done this. (Score:2)
Re:Yeah, I've done this. (Score:2)
Re:Yeah, I've done this. (Score:2)
Re:Yeah, I've done this. (Score:4, Funny)
Do you really think spammers are going to install bluetooth devices every ten yards to acheive that...?
Justin.
Re:Yeah, I've done this. (Score:2)
Nope. But you could expect store entrances and subway station entrances to have such devices.
As soon as you walk in, you phone spams you with specials at this or that store.
Re:Yeah, I've done this. (Score:2)
Re:Yeah, I've done this. (Score:3, Insightful)
As soon as someone makes a device as easy to program as those LED bars, and as cheap, businesses will eat them up like candy.
Re:Yeah, I've done this. (Score:2)
But, whatever you do, don't look at their glass. There is no beer in existence that is yellowish-reddish with disgusting brown chunks in it!
Re:Yeah, I've done this. (Score:2)
All the time, and if I hadn't registered my cell phone number with TPS (UK equivalent of the do not call list) a year ago, I'd be getting even more.
Don't spammers/telemarketers avoid spamming cell phones?
In the rest of the world where the recipient is not paying for incoming calls or text messages, there are no special laws that make cell phones less attractive to spam than landlines. Since bluetooth spam is not costing you anything to receive in the US
commercial spamming? (Score:2)
or maybe we are going to see people wearing jacket or backpack hiding bt equipment in crowded area?
Re:commercial spamming? (Score:5, Insightful)
At the most basic level, you'll see stores use this as a means to automatically transmit specials and what-not as you walk into the store.
Mom and Pop Stores (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Mom and Pop Stores (Score:2)
Re:Mom and Pop Stores (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Mom and Pop Stores (Score:3, Funny)
It's amusing just how many people think they've just discovered some renegade underground use of Bluetooth, rather than what it was invented for! What's next?
Post-jacking? "You can send post to people and it just turns up in their letterbox". Phone-jacking? "Give someone a ring, they'll have to answer to find out who it is!"
Re:Mom and Pop Stores (Score:4, Funny)
As well as the prostitutes standing in front of their stores.
That would be SO counterproductive... (Score:2)
Spam annoys 99.999% of the people that receive it, but it "works" because that majority can't retaliate effectively, and they make money off the
Advertising that annoys 99.999% of people that receive it would kill a Mom and Pop store, because the annoyed customers would retaliate by taking their business elsewhere.
Bluejack ads would only work for businesses with no r
How does this work? (Score:4, Interesting)
Then, when connection does succeed, a box pops up on the receiving phone asking whether you want to accept the connection.
It's difficult to see how that could be done without the owner knowing about it.
Re:How does this work? (Score:5, Informative)
With my T616, I can create a note and then send that note to another phone via bluetooth whether I'm paired with that device or not.
Re:How does this work? (Score:3, Interesting)
The article implies they're actually using the victims phone to do something nefarious.
Re:How does this work? (Score:2)
Re:How does this work? (Score:4, Interesting)
This allows a vCard (which may just be a message in the 'name' field) to be sent without authentication, or the target having to confirm receipt.
Worse than vCards, you can send pics this way. It may be funny to take a pic of someone with your phone and then 'bluejack' it too them - but I know people who've received some pretty nasty porn over bluejacking too.
Re:How does this work? (Score:3, Funny)
Nooooooooooo. I thought my phone was a goatse.cx free zone.
Re:How does this work? (Score:2, Informative)
Grammar anyone? (Score:2)
The phonomenon, known as "bluejacking".
No verb? What is that?
Re:Grammar anyone? (Score:4, Funny)
Make it sound like a haiku
People think it's cool
Re:Grammar anyone? (Score:2)
What's cool (Score:2)
ARGH! (Score:3, Insightful)
it's not some cool hack, or anything, it's just a setting within bluetooth for exchanging information without pairing.
"Bluejacking" possibilities (Score:5, Funny)
Or is it the removal of testicles that we're out for? I can never remember what the punishment for spamming is...
Re:"Bluejacking" possibilities (Score:2, Funny)
Re:"Bluejacking" possibilities (Score:2)
I'm fully in support of this. If they aren't "bluejacking" before this, they will be.
Re:"Bluejacking" possibilities (Score:3, Insightful)
I mean really, let's think about this: If you're walking in front of my coffee shop and I "bluejack" you with a coupon for a half-price latte, are you gonna come in and beat the crap out of me because I made your phone beep? I think we're so programmed to see (and hate!) 'spam' that we automatically get our hackles raised about something that could actually be a cool way to support sma
Re:"Bluejacking" possibilities (Score:3, Insightful)
Leave me alone! Leave my phone alone! Put a sign in your window.
Let's perform a thought experiment. Suppose you hire someone to stand out on the sidewalk and harass people that pass by to come into your store. Some people will call the police. Some people will punch that person in the nose. And perhaps there will be other responses as well. Some might try to get you som
Bluetooth directional antennas. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Bluetooth directional antennas. (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Bluetooth directional antennas. (Score:4, Informative)
Think about it. The Dish antenna on top of houses for TV are to receive a weak signal, not send a signal.
A can antenna would not only increase your transmit range but also increase the receive range. I see no reason a cantenna would not work on one end to increase the 2 way connection.
Have I missed anything?
Re:Bluetooth directional antennas: 2-way gain (Score:3, Informative)
Well... (Score:5, Informative)
Unless, of course, Microsoft makes a smartphone that has Outlook on it and bluetooth as an option...
Re:Well... (Score:2)
Re:Well... (Score:2)
The nice thing about bluetooth... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The nice thing about bluetooth... (Score:2)
OR you can give their community website a good old fashioned slashdotting!
Bluetooth devices must include "off" switch (Score:5, Insightful)
no, they musn't (Score:3, Insightful)
My phone has a blue LED that indicates, yes, you guessed it, that I'm using bluetooth. It *doesn't* mean I've been dumb enough not to realise that if you don't put a tick in the "discoverable" box that you can get short range messages from strangers.
Let me guess... (Score:2)
Look, as Bluetooth becomes more and more integrated into devices two things will happen:
1. Non-geeks will use increasingly more Bluetooth enable devices. Do you think they will have any idea what "discoverable" is? Do you think they will want to wade through software menus to turn Bluetooth on and off?
2. More sophisticated methods will be discovered to take advantage of people who unwittingly le
Bluetooth viruses (Score:5, Insightful)
What might be more interesting is bluetooth viruses. We're probably fairly safe since we dont have a monoculture in mobile phones like that which exists on the desktop, but you can just imagine bluetooth viruses hopping from phone to phone as their owner travels around :-). Plus the fact that its very difficult to update phones to fix holes could make this a pretty big problem if such security holes were found.
Re:Bluetooth viruses (Score:2)
Re:Bluetooth viruses (Score:3, Interesting)
Even worse, some of the new phones offer 'over the air' programming updates. The right bug, and someone could render your phone useless....
Suspicious Timing (Score:2)
YAGging (Score:3, Informative)
Commercial Spammers (Score:3, Insightful)
Annoying sure, but at least semi-relevant to what your doing. And at least you can turn it off. (You can, can't you?)
Re:Commercial Spammers (Score:2)
Precisely, but how is this not spam? Shops in the UK are already doing this with SMS. I now avoid walking past the Carphone Warehouse in Liverpool Street Station because of the SMS spam they've sent out as I walk past on a number of occasions.
Re:Commercial Spammers (Score:2)
Really? I didn't know they where already doing this. Wonder how that works.
I didn't mean it wasn't spam, just not like what we get via email. I normally get 40 or 50 email spams a day (tho it's been 800-ish per day this past week), none of which are even slightly
Re:Commercial Spammers (Score:2)
Fair point!
Most mobiles don't have anything in the way of filters either. Urg...
Bluetooth spam haiku (Score:2)
Spam from a bookstore
"Read a book, gain some knowledge"
But you walk on by
Dog doo spelling skills
Are commonplace on Slashdot
Generation Duh
Karma is burning
It is mine but I don't care
It has to be said
Re:Bluetooth spam haiku (Score:2)
I'm at work but my brain isn't. It's still at home sleeping.
this has been around for quite a while....example (Score:4, Informative)
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
If I was a spammer.... (Score:2, Funny)
Could you imagine bluejacking bombs? (Score:5, Interesting)
Perhaps I should be patenting an idea like that.
Commercial spammers? (Score:2)
I hardly think spam is going to be a problem. It's not economically feasible for generic spam (no economy of scale) and I think localized messages (for example, a restaurant sending you a message saying "eat here") would annoy rather than entice, thus costing the offender business. The blujackq.com faq [bluejackq.com] says
On most models the phone will bleep the same tone as when a text message is received, and it will show a message similar to "name
John Anderton (Score:2)
-jfedor
Re:John Anderton (Score:2)
A friend of mine does this (Score:2)
Some people look like they're thinking: "oh shit, I'm fucked"
ad-hoc network? (Score:2)
Apparently lots of phone owners are leaving Bluetooth switched on, meaning that anyone within range can send a short message.
Hmm... could this be used to set up an ad-hoc local network, e.g. in a cinema? Can you get a remote bluetooth phone to forward a message to another?
Bluetooth spam (Score:2)
Oh, puhleeeze let it be soon! With the range of Bluetooth, they'll have to send so many spams to get their 0.00001% hit rates that their fingers will fall off through exteme RSI and the bastards won't be able to send us email spam either. ;)
what about Internet connection over BT phone? (Score:3, Interesting)
Is it possible to place a laptop next to a phone, somehow hijack the connection, get the IP address, send 1000 spam messages and disconnect?
Should not take more than 30-50 seconds.
Re:what about Internet connection over BT phone? (Score:3, Informative)
Is this going to be known ... (Score:2)
Dunstan
ermm.. NOT SPAM as such.. (Score:5, Informative)
WHat is actually happening here is the OBEX transfer part is beign utilised. Any Bluetooth phone that is set to discoverable will accept certain OBEX information (usually just vCards, and vCal files, and maybe notes). The phone ideally will accept the information and ask the user if he/she woudl liek the add the recieved infomation into their phonebook/calendar/notes. it is EXACTLY like the beam facility of Palm units, and others, just using Bluetooth for non-line of sight transfers.
What people do in "BlueJacking" is create a dummy addressbook entry, and send it to the unsuspecting user (usually Nokia users.. more on that later). I did it beofre once, when i was at a resteraunt and this idiot with a Nokia camera phoen was showing off and making a nuisence in front of some girls he was entertaining. So i sent a address "vCard" with the name "Stop Playing with yr BRICK" from my phone to his (his phone was discovered as "poser"?!!?!??!?!) SHoudl haev seen the look on his face.. especially in front of the girls..
However (unless you are a Nokia 7650/6310i/6xxx user) You have nothign to worry. Most phoens ship with bluetooth off or in none discoverable mode. The SOny Ericssons only stay "discoverable" for a maximum of three minuites. The blueJackign craze started in the (Sony)Ericsson community when it was discovered some (if not most) Nokia Bluetooth phones were shipped default with Bluetooth on and discoverable, so it was a prank to those users!
As was pointed out, it is extremely easy to make a phoen none discoverable, and most ppl have cottoned on.
So as for "spam" via blue tooh, it isnt going to happen, unless you are EXTREMELY stupid... then again..... there is a hell of a lot of stupid people
Looking for dope? (Score:2)
Software distribution by Bluetooth (Score:2, Interesting)
Watch out for a manic Scotsman on the London tube system waving a Nokia 7650...
doesnt make sense (Score:2)
new term "bluerage" (Score:2)
Meaning: The act of finding and beating of a person who uses a bluetooth enabled device to send people with bluetooth enabled devices unsolicated messages.
Other Notes: Due to local regulations, you may only beat the person with your phone. However, if your phone is integrated into a pair of brass knuckles, all the better.
So this means... (Score:2)
On slashdot? (Score:2)
Posting this here is silly for the same reason that posting detailed instructions of an how to exploit the latest buffer overrun is silly...
So long, bluetooth!
range (Score:2)
Cha ching Cha ching (Score:2)
Why keep bluetooth switched on? (Score:2)
I turn bluetooth on when I sync my phone with my Mac, and turn it off again when I'm finished. Why would anyone keep bluetooth on all the time?
JP
Re:Why keep bluetooth switched on? (Score:2)
brutus the Honeypot (Score:3, Funny)
From Prankster to Spammer ...? (Score:2)
I wonder how many commercial spammers began their careers as pranksters
Probbly the only time I'll mention this... (Score:2)
...on Slashdot without trolling, but I've definetly seen my friends on a college campus be able to pick up all the Bluetooth phones in a 10-meter sphere around their dorm rooms, and the little bastards have definately send a picture message with the goatse man to anyone and everyone...
useful (Score:2)
The key will probably be metadata about whatever is a
Bluejacking : a growing problem in taxis ... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Bluejacking : a growing problem in taxis ... (Score:3, Informative)
On my Nokia 3650, Bluetooth is turned off by default, and even when it is on, vcards are NOT inserted into the address book automatically. Incoming objects are saved to a folder, but I have to open the card and explicitly save the data in order to place it in my address book.
ABigHairyDick (Score:3, Funny)
Great fun when someone's phone beeps, and on the screen they see "Accept connection from ABigHairyDick?"
Puzzeled frowns usually result although after this article I'm sure to get my smirking ass beat good.
Re:Authorization (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Authorization (Score:2)
(1) it's a content-free "user wants to connect" message, and you don't know what the message is, so you say yes and get asked if you want a bigger penis.
(2) the message "get a bigger penis" appears on your phone and the damage is done.
All we need to do is exclaim "who's that wanker", then anyone looking suspicious in the centre of a 10m circle of people saying "who's that wanker" gets the crap beat out of them. Actual GBH aga
Re:Authorization (Score:2)
If you have bluetooth on and set to discoverable people can send you vCards containing their messages.
There are more security options on phones usually, but people don't know they are there and it phone is open by default.
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Im sure posting it to slashdot (Score:2)
at least with bluetooth you have to be in range of the spammer(and the spam might even be relevant).
Re:Reach out and touch someone (Score:2)
Never underestimate the power of a high gain yagi
antenna. It is possible to sit on a tower and be a bluesniper. Same concealable 2.4GHz antenna and everything.