Tech Report: AT&T Cell Phones Hacked

(KCBS) – AT&T is changing its policy for cell phone voicemail boxes following the ongoing phone hacking scandal in England.

KCBS Technology Analyst Larry Magid said subscribers will now need passwords to check their voicemail.

"New phones will automatically require that you enter a four-digit personal ID code or password to check your voicemail," he said. "They are going to require that you set it. You can still go in and unset it and have no password, but at least there's going to be the default that you have to put in your own number so that the default numbers are no longer going to be that guessable."

KCBS Technology Analyst Larry Magid:

AT&T officials also said that beginning in early 2012, the company will set the default voicemail setting to Password Protect anytime a customer upgrades or changes their handset.

Magid said this is all part of an ongoing effort to make it harder for people to hack into accounts.

You can hear Larry Magid's Tech Report Monday through Friday at 3:50pm on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM.

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