❗Let's close the gap: We still need your help to raise $40,000 by April 1. Donate now
Codebreaker

Bono Mack wants answers by August 2

John Moe Jul 19, 2011

The Republican Representative from California sent a STRONGLY WORDED LETTER to the U.S. Telecom Association, the Information Technology Industry Council, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, the Consumer Electronics Association and CTIA- the Wireless Association to find out how secure phone data is. This after Rupert Murdoch’s media empire is in shambles after a phone hacking scandal. She wants to know how common phone hacking is and she wants to find out what these organizations think about new laws regulating this area.

Bono Mack may be somewhat off base here. A good number of recent phone hacks have come about not through high tech server attacks but through good old fashioned password guessing. Witness Rebekah Brooks’ obvious password earlier in the memo. So companies can try to do more but as long as human beings are lazy, there will be open doors.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.