Bluejacking
Bluejacking is the sending of unsolicited messages over Bluetooth to Bluetooth-enabled devices such as mobile phones, PDAs or laptop computers, sending a vCard which typically contains a message in the name field (i.e. for bluedating or bluechat) to another bluetooth enabled device via the OBEX protocol.
Bluetooth has a very limited range, usually around 10 metres on mobile phones, but laptops can reach up to 100 metres with powerful (Class 1) transmitters.
Origins
'Bluejacking' was first committed by an Esato user 'Ajack' who used his phone to advertise Sony Ericsson.[citation needed] He also invented the name, an amalgam of Bluetooth and 'ajack', his username on Esato, a Sony Ericsson fan site.[citation needed]
Usage
Bluejacking is usually technically harmless, but because bluejacked people don't know what is happening, they think their phone is malfunctioning. Usually, a bluejacker will only send a text message, but with modern phones it's possible to send images or sounds as well. Bluejacking has been used in guerrilla marketing campaigns to promote advergames.
With the increase in the availability of Bluetooth enabled devices, these devices have become vulnerable to virus attacks and even complete take over of devices through a trojan horse program.
Bluejacking is also confused with Bluesnarfing which is the way in which mobile phones are illegally hacked via Bluetooth.
See also
References
 |
External links
- War, Peace or Stalemate, An article on the ethics and legality of wireless hacking (including bluejacking).
- Esato, The SonyEricsson community site where Bluejacking was "discovered"
- Esato, The original thread
- bluejackQ, website dedicated to bluejacking
- BluejackAddicts, another website dedicated to bluejacking
- You Tagged Me , A Social Network with java client for bluejacking
- Bluejacking Tools , A website dedicated to all the tools needed to bluejack