Consumer Security Alert: Hands-Free Bluetooth Devices Unsecure According to ID Theft Expert Jim Stickley

Consumer Security Alert: Hands-Free Bluetooth Devices Unsecure According to ID Theft Expert Jim Stickley

Conversations that Occur on Bluetooth Devices Are Vulnerable to Eavesdropping Since Security Safeguards Are Mute Issue

BATON ROUGE, La., Aug. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- TraceSecurity, a leading provider of on-demand security compliance management solutions, announced today that its CTO and co-founder, Jim Stickley, has demonstrated how conversations that take place in the privacy of your car can be monitored and or recorded by exploiting weaknesses in some Bluetooth hands free devices. During today's broadcast of NBC's TODAY Show, Jim Stickley demonstrated how some hands free car devices that employ Bluetooth technology are vulnerable to the most simple of attacks. As seen on the segment, the attacks allowed Stickley to access the communication over Bluetooth from a remote location and listen in to conversations that were taking place by car passengers.

"These types of vulnerabilities have been around for a number of years and what is surprising is that a number of new products on the market are still vulnerable to these types of attacks," said Jim Stickley, CTO and co-founder of TraceSecurity. "When purchasing a hands-free device users should verify that the device is not always in pairing mode but instead requires the user to press a button to activate the pairing mode. Also when possible change the pin to something other than the default. For users who already have these insecure devices the best advice is to leave them off or unplugged except when needed."

During testing with the NBC TODAY Show, Stickley followed a few car lengths behind a car that was equipped with a hands-free Bluetooth device and listened in on the conversation taking place by the vehicle occupants. The test showed that not only could Stickley access the communication occurring over Bluetooth technology and hear the conversation, but that the occupants of the car had no warning or indication Stickley had accessed the hands-free Bluetooth device and was listening in.

To find out more about this story, visit TraceSecurity's web site at www.tracesecurity.com.

About TraceSecurity

TraceSecurity is a leading provider of security compliance and risk management solutions. The company helps organizations of all sizes to achieve, maintain and demonstrate security compliance while significantly improving their security posture. Key to TraceSecurity's success is the company's comprehensive patent-pending methodology that helps clients address all of the critical components of a successful security compliance program: people, process and technology.

TraceSecurity delivers its solutions through an integrated software-as-a- service platform backed by expert professional services and comprehensive security awareness programs. The company's flagship offering, TraceCompliance Manager, is the first comprehensive solution to automate regulatory compliance audits, board level reporting, policy management, vulnerability assessment, and employee education and testing. The company's expert professional services include onsite risk assessments, security audits, and social engineering. The security awareness programs include an exhaustive set of standard offerings as well as custom designed courses. With over 600 clients, TraceSecurity supports the risk management and security compliance efforts of organizations in financial services, healthcare, insurance, government and other regulated sectors. For more information, please visit www.tracesecurity.com.

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Source: TraceSecurity

CONTACT: David Splivalo of Freestyle Public Relations, +1-703-373-3566,
david@freestylepr.com, for TraceSecurity

Web site:

http://www.tracesecurity.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: TraceSecurity is a trademark of TraceSecurity, Inc.

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