Keep your tech side secure with these gizmos
TECH TALK
THERE are millions out there who envy the City and its wealth generators. With mobile theft and hacking on the rise, you’d better secure yourself.
Phone hacking is a case in point. A “hack’” can only hear your mobile messages if you don’t choose a new password. If you keep the default password, 1111, every criminal and tabloid hack will have access to your messages. It’s like buying a house and leaving the door open. You can’t complain if squatters move in, can you?
Meanwhile, Anvil Mobile’s Simply Safe is designed to filter out abusive text messages. Get a Simply Safe SIM and screen out the psychos. Its profiling technology Crisp Thinking has 98.4 per cent accuracy in snuffing out online groomers, according to Cambridge University testers.
I tested myself with it and I’m relieved to say I’m no groomer.
The best way for thieves to steal your details is to nick your phone. Synchronica.com invented a system that lets you command your phone to scream, once you’ve noticed it’s been stolen. Better still, you can text another command to disable it and wipe all your private data before a thief or a tabloid journalist gets to read it.
Zomm has gone one better, inventing an automatic alarm that vibrates and gives an ear splitting scream if the Zomm (which is chained to your belt) and your phone become separated. They’re linked by an invisible chain of Bluetooth signals. The Zomm can warn you of incoming calls too and has many other clever functions.
Premium rate cons are on the increase too. Beware the unfamiliar missed call that you optimistically return, thinking it’s a romantic encounter. It’s likely to be an automated answering machine, that just keeps repeating “hello?” “yes,” and “oh really?” Until you twig, you’ll be paying a £25 a minute tariff. Mind you, I did it once, and that automated voice really helped me talk my way through my problems. It was a great listener and exuded more warmth and empathy than my lawyer. It was a lot cheaper too and the level of advice was about the same.
Nick Booth is the editor of Mobileb2b.co.uk