New snooping device can snarf phone numbers, data, call logs and text messages off Motorola and Samsung phones
Think twice before leaving your Motorola or Samsung cell phone on the table in a public place, or in the pocket of your coat. Or leaving your cell phone anywhere, for that matter.

CNet News reported yesterday that a new device dubbed the “Cellular Seizure Investigation Stick” (CSI Stick) from Paraben, a digital forensics company, allows a user to download all data stored in a cell phone by attaching the stick to the phone and sliding the switch. The device has a port on one end to connect into the cell phone’s charger port. Ports that match the Motorola and Samsung phones are currently available. The other end of the CSI Stick features a USB port which connects the CSI Stick to a computer for analysis of the cell phone’s data contents.

Your Attorney Says: Ya Better Watch Out
A cell phone owner’s phonebooks, call logs, text messages, photos and movies can be retrieved within a few seconds using the technology. A copy of all memory contents takes considerably longer (the product website states “this process can take many hours to complete.”) The device comes with a portable power adapter that connects to the USB port while the user is downloading the data.

Priced on the product’s website at $199, Paraben’s CSI Stick is a bargain-basement intelligence gathering tool. Want to catch your spouse cheating? Slip that cell phone off the charger for a few minutes early in the morning before the alarm goes off.  Want to find out what that competitor of yours is planning? Hang out at the same place he eats breakfast every morning and wait for nature to call — there will be trade secrets galore to be ferreted out from the CEO’s communications.

Cell phones are increasingly becoming the platform of choice to integrate data — newer models touch all business applications. The security risks are obvious and have been well-known for years: most experts consider the cell phone to be a completely unsecured device. Yet even the most security-aware businesses are full of executives who need cell phones and fill them with all kinds of sensitive business and personal data.

Compliance Department: How Will You Deal With Your Cell Phone Security Risk?
I’m predicting that mid-size businesses up through Fortune 100 companies will be adding this to the growing stack of risk management issues.