Victim reports phone hacking after connecting to free public wifi

A woman reported being locked out of her phone as it was being controlled by a hacker while connected to a public wifi service.

In a 24 Oras report by Mark Salazar on Friday, the victim recounted that her phone suddenly froze and started to operate on its own while connected to the internet service of an office sharing space.

In videos taken by the victim, the hacker began to guess the mobile phone’s password and tried to take a photo of the victim to bypass the phone’s face ID.

Later, the cellphone manufacturer’s customer service provider confirmed that the victim was hacked after the attack had been reported.

“May nag-remote access nga talaga nung phone ko. Yung solid grey circle, ‘yun. Kinonfirm naman nila na iba nga ‘yun sa assistive touch. Parang tinawag nila itong pointer na lumalabas kapag naka-connect ‘yung device mo sa isa pang device, at pwedeng ‘yung kabilang device ‘yung magcocontrol nung isa pang device.” The victim explained.

According to technology experts, low-security encryption in public wifi services makes it easier for hackers to access devices and gather sensitive information. Oftentimes, device owners never even know they’ve been hacked.

“Kung ako yung hacker, dapat hindi pwedeng malaman ng victim ko na ina-access ko na pala ang device niya, na na-access ko na data niya.” Technology professional Jun Macarambon said.

Experts warned users to be alert when using free wifi services and to consider using data encryption services like VPN to protect personal data.

Experts also reminded users to refrain from downloading or accessing suspicious links and files and to make a habit of regularly changing passwords. — Jiselle Casucian/DVM, GMA Integrated News