Hack the hacker

Security expert Dino Covotos reveals his trade secrets.

Make Paris Hilton your role model! Now, before you succumb to the urge of pelting stones in my direction, an explanation is on its way.

Here is the scene, when hotel heiress Paris Hilton found out that a hacker had successfully penetrated her Side-kick II and posted all the personal contact numbers of celebrity friends on the internet, all hell broke loose. Now, before we get embroiled into the nature of the cyber crime, why not draw inspiration from Hilton and ensure that a similar episode does not occur in your lives?

e+ caught up with Dino Covotos, the founder and managing director of a South African IT security firm Telspace System, for pointers to ensure that our phone data such as contacts, SMSs and photos, remain secure and do not fall into the wrong hands. In Dubai to attend a three-day HITB (Hack In The Box) Security Conference, Covotos was at his practical best.

Taking into account the popularity of the Bluetooth device in the UAE, Covotos subscribes to the clichéd adage ‘Prevention is better than cure'. He says says awareness and a few simple steps can make a world of difference and ensure that you are not a victim of a cyber crime. According to him, the simplest and easiest firewall is that all mobile phone users should update their firmware (the computing software on your mobile) to the latest ones made available by their phone manufacturers.

"By regularly updating their firmware, the probability of bluetooth security exploitation is reduced," explains Covotos.

Choosing a complex pin-number when pairing with a device is another way to ensure that your personal phone data is not compromised. Incidentally, mobile phone users can choose from many different authentication platform models.

The third and final step would be to download specific programmes from the internet to help with Bluetooth security. If all this fails, initiating contact with leading anti-virus vendors who have products specifically designed for mobile devices is another option. "Vendors such as F-Secure, Kapersky, Symantec are all offering applications for mobile phone protection." he says.

Armed with the knowhow, there's little chance that you will end up like Paris Hilton.