Austrian researcher Bluesnarfs at 1.08 miles
Get that little lead bag for your cellphone ready; long distance Bluesnarfing (aka using Bluetooth to hijack a cellphone or PDA) is here. An Austrian Bluetooth researcher in Santa Monica Bay recently used an antenna and a modified dongle (don't do this at home, kids) to steal the entire address book as well as send an SMS from a target phone 1.08 miles away. (Looks like they could have also used the BlueSniper we reported on yesterday.) Along the way they saw dozens of Bluetooth devices that were similarly vulnerable, although they say they focused only on that one phone. Bluetooth-enabled cellphone makers (we're looking in your general direction, Nokia) are denying that Bluesnarfing is a serious risk because it has to be done in such close proximity to the victim, but it looks like that theory's out the window…
[UPDATE: We've just been contacted by the Flexilis team who conducted the experiment in conjunction with Martin Herfurt, the Austrian researcher. They organized the event with Martin. Thanks, John!]
