July 6, 2006
O2 offers easy way to unlock your phone
mad4mobilephones reports that "O2 is offering mobile phone users an easy way to unlock their phones online via the O2 website, by simply typing in a mobile phone number at Get PUK and retrieve a personal unlocking code (PUK) - allowing to unlock a phone straight away.
"In the past any user wanting to unlock a phone was required to ring a call centre and provide identification details.
The new service has sparked security issues, writes mad4mobilephones. The act of locking a phone is designed to prevent it working after the phone is stolen and this system could allow thieves to unlock stolen phones without providing any details other than the phone number.
... O2 are defending the service stating that most phones that are stolen are already turned on so the unlocking code is not required. The benefits of providing the system apparently far outweigh the drawbacks in allowing thieves to unlock stolen phones."
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