Users of smartphones beware!

Hackers are quite ingenious, and they can invade your trusty handheld devices by tricking you into downloading spyware. They can also find other ways to install it, such as borrowing the device and loading malware from the Internet or a MicroDS card.

Of course, there are other ways that the bad guys might invade your smartphone without your knowledge, including listening to phone conversations, stealing contact lists, reading text messages, taking and viewing photos, and figuring out the handset's location via GPS.

According to InfoWorld.com, Sheran Gunasekera, head of research and development at ZenConsult, said one way to entice a BlackBerry user to download spyware is by offering a free application that appears to be a game or some other harmless software. He said enticing slideshows are even easier to get users to accept. "I will have the slideshow running on top and the spyware doing its nastiness on the bottom," he said.

Gunasekera offered a number of tips to help people keep their BlackBerries and other smartphones secure. "Don't install random pieces of software," he said, "and be sure of what you're installing, and limit the amount of software on your BlackBerry."

He also said people should learn and set Default Application Permissions on their BlackBerries, a feature that increases safety. And he advised users to enable a device password. "This is the least you can do in case your device is lost or stolen," he said.

For more on securing smartphones:
- see this InfoWorld.com article [1]