Cellular Phone Hacking

Last Updated: August 18, 2011

Definition - What does Cellular Phone Hacking mean?

Cellular phone hacking is a questionable practice whereby a third party gains access to an individual’s cellular phone through a variety of methods. The legality of cell phone hacking is heavily dependent on who is doing the hacking. For example, law enforcement and national governments often use cell phone hacking methods to apprehend criminals and monitor dissidents.

There have been many high profile instances of illegal cell phone hacking, particularly of celebrity phones. In 2007, a former journalist of the tabloid “News of the World” was charged with attempting to hack the phones of royal aides. In 2011, the same tabloid came under fire for hacking the voicemail of a 13 year old girl who was missing, possibly interfering with the investigation into what eventually proved to be her murder.

This term is also known as cell phone hacking, cell phone spying, phone hacking, or phreaking.

Techopedia explains Cellular Phone Hacking

Simply put, cell phone hacking occurs when someone else gets into your phone. Depending on their motives, the hacker may simply view data stored on the phone, broadcast your location or send messages to your contacts under your name.

However, more serious instances of cell phone hacking involve hackers:

Deleting data
Adding malicious programs
Gaining access to sensitive information like bank accounts
Transcribing private conversations
Storing copies of texts and emails

Common ways that a hacker gains access to your cellular phone include:

Bluehacking - gaining access to your phone when it is a discoverable device on an unprotected Bluetooth network
Unnoticed access to an unlocked phone left unattended in a public space
Mimicry of a trusted network or cell phone tower
Phone cloning by copying the SIM card of the target phone
Malware apps that install malicious software or make changes to firmware
Phishing via mobile optimized sites
Fraudulent account resets using known information about the user (phone number, birth date, address and so on)

With so many methods available and more sensitive data being stored on smartphones and mobile devices, cellular phone security has become a major concern.