Bluetooth And Its Inherent Security Issues

Bluetooth technology is slowly becoming more popular but the security built into the specification is a cause for concern. More and more consumer products used in normal daily life are manufactured with Bluetooth systems such as cell phones, PDA's and mobile computers. It is important that consumers understand the technology and the risks involved in the use thereof. Some of those risks range from loss of productivity to loss of confidentiality and can stem from default configuration, theft and loss, eavesdropping and impersonation, person-in-the-middle, and DoS attacks. Most of these risks can be easily mitigated by following device configuration guidelines and security policies when it comes to the use of a Bluetooth device. Personal as well as corporate users will need to take the initiative to understand the technology and secure their devices until the Bluetooth SIG can work these issues out of the Bluetooth design.