• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Experts say you should stop using Bluetooth after discovering 'dangerous' risks

Home> Technology

Published 14:47 20 Feb 2024 GMT

Experts say you should stop using Bluetooth after discovering 'dangerous' risks

Hackers gaining access to your devices via Bluetooth could prove more damaging than you would likely expect.

Gerrard Kaonga

Gerrard Kaonga

Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Image

Topics: Technology

Gerrard Kaonga
Gerrard Kaonga

Gerrard is a Journalist at UNILAD and has dived headfirst into covering everything from breaking global stories to trending entertainment news. He has a bachelors in English Literature from Brunel University and has written across a number of different national and international publications. Most notably the Financial Times, Daily Express, Evening Standard and Newsweek.

Advert

Advert

Advert

Many of us probably leave Bluetooth switched on on our phones and think nothing of it, but experts have warned that we're exposing ourselves to hackers.

Bluetooth may be a handy way to connect to speakers, link up fitness devices with your phone or hotspot on your laptop in a fix, but techies reckon it has some major security weaknesses.

Bluetooth is a very short-range Wi-Fi technology which allows devices to essentially talk to each other if they are close.

This is pretty good for wireless devices which can ‘pair’ with one another and exchange information.

Advert

However, the history of Bluetooth is filled with experts warning about the security risks it poses.

In 2019, the hacker convention DEF CON showed just how the lax security surrounding Bluetooth could be.

The history of Bluetooth is filled with experts warning about the security risks it poses.
Getty Stock Image

During the convention, researchers showed how vulnerable digital speakers could be controlled and forced to play sonic noises that can lead to hearing loss to anyone nearby.

Advert

"Bluetooth is something that can be hacked. It's fairly easy and we should be aware of it," Matt Lourens, a security engineering manager with Checkpoint software has also previously said.

Jovi Umawing, a researcher with Malwarebytes Labs has also warned: "When it comes to sharing potentially sensitive data with someone else, Bluetooth isn't the best technology that truly guarantees a safe and secure exchange.

"You're better off using other more secure methods of sharing data."

Beyond on this, experts have also warned of other risks that can come about from the use of the short-range Wi-Fi tech.

Advert

Do you think she realises hackers could make her headphones play sonic noise?
Getty Stock Image

Researchers Daniele Antonioli, Nils Ole Tippenhauer and Kasper Rasmussen explained in a 2019 paper that ‘[an] attacker is able to the listen in on, or change the content of, nearby Bluetooth communication, even between devices that have previously been successfully paired'.

This includes the ability for hackers to take control and manipulate data which can be transferred across the wireless transmission.

However, Lourens also cautioned against hysteria when using Bluetooth and phones in general. He said it's more important to know the risks and make informed decisions.

Advert

"If you really want to be safe, turn off the internet, stop using your cell phone, don't drive anymore....you get what I'm saying?” he added.

"You will always have a level of risk. Just be aware of it and change your behavior."

So sure, be cautious about using having Bluetooth for long periods of time in public, but don’t whip yourself into a frenzy about it.

UNILAD has contacted Bluetooth Technology for comment.

Choose your content:

16 hours ago
17 hours ago
4 days ago
  • Getty Images
    16 hours ago

    Expert claims these specific jobs will be extinct in the next 10 years

    God speed to all of the copywriters and marketing specialists out there...

    Technology
  • YouTube/Good Morning Britain
    17 hours ago

    Domestic abuse survivor reveals how Siri saved her life in brutal attack

    Emma-Louise Kelly used her iPhone voice assistant 'out of sheer desperation'

    Technology
  • Getty Images/Justin Sullivan
    4 days ago

    People have already noticed flaw with new iPhone as Samsung savagely troll Apple

    Samsung had things to say about the new iPhone Air

    Technology
  • NASA Mars Twitter
    4 days ago

    NASA reveals significant new evidence that shows potential signs of previous life on Mars

    NASA are waiting for the sample mission green light

    Technology
  • World’s most popular passwords that you should stop using immediately
  • There are 6 hand signs you should avoid using in other countries for dangerous reasons
  • Experts issue warning after discovering 5,000-year-old civilization underneath world's largest desert
  • Experts reveal seven foods you should never cook in an air fryer as it could be major 'safety risk'