The corporate world, it seems, is waking up to Bluetooth security issues. At the same time there is a growing slew of products to make them sleep safer.
InfoSync World writes of new security software from Bluefire Security which “disables Bluetooth and Infrared communication to minimize the risk of information theft.” Bluefire Mobile Firewall Plus 3.0 allows system administrators to disable Infrared and Bluetooth communication capabilities on any company PDAs or other gadgets before they’re handed over to workers.
GeekZone also reports that AirDefense has launched what the company is calling “the industry’s first Bluetooth monitoring solution”. BlueWatch monitors an organisation’s ‘airspace’ and can identify different types of Bluetooth devices, including laptops, PDAs, keyboards and cell phones, their signal strength and illustrate the connectivity among various devices.
Here’s a piece from ComputerWorld on what IT managers are doing. Of course, there’s a danger of an over-reaction here. Some folk don’t see Bluesnarfing, Bluejacking et al to be a problem. But this is usually because they are only considering it from their own point of view (‘I’ve only got my mum’s and girlfriend’s telephone number in there, who would want that? They’re welcome to it’). But for companies this is a serious issue. If a rival could sit outside their office and download all the marketing department’s contacts from their cellphones, PDAs or (theoretically) their laptops, then that might be something to worry about.