Bluebugging: What is it and how can one protect themselves?

By Nilanjan Dey

Ever left your Bluetooth on and forgotten to turn it off? Now this can pose serious risks to you

What is bluebugging?

The term “bluebugging” refers to a type of Bluetooth-based attack that enables hackers to access every feature of your phone. If you leave your Bluetooth on and the phone is discoverable, it may serve as a gateway for anyone within ten metres of you to access your personal information. 

The reason for the range to be about 10 meters is because that s the range of transmission in class 2 Bluetooth radio. These radios are now in almost all modern-day phones along with other devices and are susceptible to attacks.

By pairing it with the victim’s phone, the hacker starts the attack. When successful, the hacker next installs malware remotely to pretend to be authorised.

Hackers can then read all of your messages, listen in on calls, view your contacts, and look through emails if they have access to your device. Other data, such as pictures and videos, is also not secure.

A hacker only has to be in the operational range when using bluebugging; they don’t need physical access to the target device.

What measures can people take to protect against it?

Making sure Bluetooth is off when not in use is the first thing you can do. Turning it back on each time you want to pair may initially seem like a pain, but you become used to it. Another thing that you can do is to go to the Bluetooth settings and make sure that the device is not discoverable. 

Be wary of connecting with unknown devices and always make sure that the security software of the devices is up-to-date.

Think about disabling “Auto-join” or “Quick-pair,” two excellent QOL features that allow you to swiftly connect to well-known networks or pair with well-known devices. While these features do give convenience to you, they also increase the chance of you getting bluebugged.