Have you ever been doorbell ditching before? The point of
the prank is simple: Sneak up to someone's front door, knock loudly or ring the
doorbell, and, instead of greeting whoever answers the door, run away and hide
somewhere nearby. The joy of doorbell ditching is, of course, reveling in the
homeowner's confusion and rolling with laughter under the security of his nicely
trimmed bushes. Although the game might get you in a bit of trouble if you
happen to incite the ire of a cranky neighbor, it's mostly a harmless joke on
par with a prank phone call.
For more technically inclined
pranksters with access to Bluetooth technology, however, there's the digital
version of doorbell ditching and prank phone calls: Bluejacking. A
kind of practical joke played out between Bluetooth-enabled devices, bluejacking takes
advantage of a loophole in the technology's messaging options that allows a
user to send unsolicited messages to other nearby Bluetooth owners.
The only difference between
doorbell ditching and bluejacking is that bluejacking usually isn't done on
your neighbor's lawn. Instead, a bluejacker will most likely camp out in crowded
areas like shopping malls, airports and subway systems to find victims -- places
with a potentially high percentage of people with Bluetooth-enabled devices.
The trend has even fostered fan Web sites, where Bluetooth users inform newcomers
how to bluejack, trade tips and post amusing bluejacking stories that include
every keystroke and puzzled look.
So how is bluejacking done?
What is it about Bluetooth technology that makes it possible to bluejack? Does
it have anything to do with hijacking information from another Bluetooth
device, and can it cause any harm? Are there any privacy concerns? To learn how
bluejackers engage each other, confuse one another or simply annoy innocent
bystanders, read the next page.
What is bluejacking?
Bluetooth technology operates by using
low-power radio waves, communicating on a frequency
of 2.45 gigahertz. This special frequency is also known as the ISM band, an
open, unlicensed band set aside for industrial, scientific and medical devices.
When a number of Bluetooth devices are switched on in the same area, they all
share the same ISM band and can locate and communicate with each other, much
like a pair of walkie talkies tuned to the same
frequency are able to link up.
Bluetooth technology users
take advantage of this ability to network with other phones and can send text messages or
electronic business cards to each other. To send information to another party,
the user creates a personal contact name in his or her phone's address book --
the name can be anything from the sender's actual name to a clever nickname.
Bluejackers have devised a
simple technique to surprise their victims: Instead of creating a legitimate
name in the address book, the bluejacker's message takes the place of the name.
The prank essentially erases the "from" part of the equation,
allowing a user to send any sort of comment he wishes without indentifying
himself.
For instance, if you're
sitting in a coffee shop and notice a fellow Bluetooth user sitting down to
enjoy a cup of iced coffee, you could set up a contact under the
name "Is your coffee cold enough?" After choosing to send the text
via Bluetooth, the phone will search for other enabled Bluetooth devices;
selecting one will send the unsolicited message to that device. A bluejacker's
crowning moment comes, of course, when the victim receives the message and
expresses a mild mix of confusion and fear that he's under surveillance.
Bluejacking is imprecise,
however. Searching for other Bluetooth-enabled hardware might turn up a list of
devices labeled with a series of numbers and letters. Unless the bluejacker's
target has chosen to publicly identify his or her phone, or it's the only
Bluetooth phone in the area, the bluejacker may have a hard time messaging his
or her target on the first try.
After bluejacking turned into
a small tech subculture in 2003, several Web sites emerged, offering how-to's
and forums for trading stories. But there's even a bluejacking code of ethics,
according to bluejackQ.com. Bluejackers should refrain, for example, from
sending insulting or threatening messages to others, and if no interest is
shown in communication after two messages, the bluejacker should cease activity
in order to avoid annoying anyone. The point of bluejacking, according to its
proponents, is to have fun, not cause complete anarchy.
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