Are you in danger of 'drive-by' hacking?

http://ow.ly/6IR8O

Article by Howard Swains on CNN.com on the CNN Tech webpage.

This article discusses the hacking phenomenon, and the increase in hacking taking place to mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

The author states, "iPhones, iPads, BlackBerrys, Windows 7 phones and Android users routinely use shared networks in public places, which leaves them all susceptible to infiltration. Unless these networks have been properly secured, freely available browser add-ons and apps can help hackers seize control of personal data at the touch of a button.

Meanwhile so-called "drive-by download" attacks lie invisibly in wait on web-pages or in malicious emails then compromise the machine of anyone unfortunate enough to visit."

The article describes the following incidents as examples, "None of the most popular devices are immune. In 2009, for instance, a hack resulted in 145,000 BlackBerry users having their email forwarded to servers in the United Arab Emirates. Pennell also described an attack on the network of an airport in Israel, which threatened anyone using Bluetooth in the terminal."  The article even mentions hacking that took place through code embedded in the "Angry Birds" app.

To further add to this frightening situation, the author mentions, ""Your Facebook or YouTube account could be hijacked with someone using little more than a cheap second-hand phone from eBay," said information security professional Steve Lord."

One of the suggested solutions, "Security experts have touted the idea of "split personality" phones, with an inbuilt division between personal and business data."