By Joe Casad
Bluetooth short-range wireless technology is now a part of everyday life. You'll find Bluetooth networks operating invisibly wherever computers connect with wireless keyboards, cellphones, headsets, and PDAs.
But is Bluetooth secure? Does the Linux environment offer possibilities for Bluetooth customization? We'll provide answers to these questions in this month's Bluetooth Hacks cover story.
Like almost everything else on a network, Bluetooth really isn't as safe as it seems. In our first article, we'll show you the tricks intruders use to break into Bluetooth. You'll learn about the Bluetooth protocol layers, and we'll describe some documented attack techniques, such as Bluejacking, Bluesnarfing, and Bluebugging. We'll also give you some tips on how to protect your Bluetooth devices.
The next article focuses on Bluetooth as a wireless networking protocol. You'll learn how to use personal area networking (PAN) to configure a single computer to act as an access point and Bluetooth gateway for a group of PCs.
We'll show you how to provide a roaming Internet connection for your portable computer with an Internet-enabled Bluetooth cellphone. We'll also examine Bluetooth stereo headsets, and we'll describe how to configure Linux Bluetooth printing.
If you're a Linux expert who likes to tinker, you'll find interesting areas for exploration in this month's issue. If you're a user who just wants to get it right and leave it alone, you'll find great tips for getting it right. We hope you enjoy our Bluetooth Hacks cover story.