Threats Against Smart Cell Phones Are Mounting
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A security firm lays out this year&#39;s attack timeline to demonstrate the quickening pace of exploits. By Gregg Keizer. Mobile phone security is bad now, but it is only going to get worse, a security firm said
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The latest generation of mobile phones is vulnerable to hackers, a security conference is told.
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A flashier offshoot of the Trojan horse that affects Symbian-based cell phones has been discovered.
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LONDON: If you thought that your little chit chats on your mobile phones are safe from eavesdropping, think again, as security experts have revealed that the new generation of mobile phones are highly vulnerable to hackers.
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MALICIOUS programs that can delete address books, junk messages that flood a mobile phone&#39;s inbox and stealthy code that uses Bluetooth wireless technology to sneak onto handsets.
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Software security companies and handset makers, including Finland's Nokia (NOK1V.HE), are gearing up to launch products intended to secure cell phones from variants of the Internet viruses that have become a scourge for personal computer users.
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The use of mobile phones in emerging markets is growing but people are using their phones for more than just talking.
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Security firms are warning about a smartphone virus that can spread much faster than similar bugs.
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Excessive text messaging may be bad for you, or at least for your fingers.
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STOCKHOLM -- Malicious programs that can delete address books. Junk messages that flood a cellphone's inbox. Stealthy code that uses Bluetooth wireless technology to sneak onto handsets.
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The anti-virus software makers are going to have a very busy year ahead, it appears. The number of attacks on smartphones is increasing at an alarming pace.
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(InfoWorld) - Uncertainty about how to secure mobile phones in the face of increasing threats is slowing enterprise adoption of mobile applications, experts exhibiting at theÂ 3GSM World CongressÂ in Barcelona this week said. Over two-thirds of mobile operators in Europe that took part in a survey said that they detected more than 100 incidents involvingÂ mobile virusesÂ orÂ mobile spywareÂ in 2006, according to a study by conducted by Informa for security software developer McAfee. The number of European operators reporting more than 1,000 such incidents more than doubled in 2006 compared to the previous year, the report said. IT administrators, uncertain how to protect their users from such attacks, are unwilling to enable mobile access to applications for workers. "Enterprise security professionals haven't really worked this out yet," said Lorcan Burke, CEO of AdaptiveMobile. Companies such as banks, with strict security requirements, simply block access to any service, including Internet access, that could open doors to security issues, he said. At the recent RSA Conference in San Francisco, some of the most crowded events were those tackling mobile security issues, said Simeon Coney, vice president of marketing for AdaptiveMobile. That was an indication that IT administrators are trying to find out how serious mobile security problems are and how to address them, he said. Mobile services can be secured in the application, the network or in hardware or software on the device. Among operators responding to the McAfee study, most found that virus protection was most important at application and device levels, although more of them had deployed network-level security systems than the other options. Over 200 respondents from the operator community took part in the study. AdaptiveMobile makes network-level security products for operators, including a system for filtering viruses in e-mail, SMS (Short Message Service), MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) and WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) traffic. Beyond viruses, AdaptiveMobile can also control content, so it can stop phishing and other fraudulent attacks, or limit the types of content end users can access. If an operator has deployed AdaptiveMobile's platform, an IT administrator in a company can set and manage such controls down to the level of individual users. For the mass market, AdaptiveMobile's product allows operators to notify a user by text message if their phone becomes infected with a virus and offer a download, either for free or for a fee, to disinfect the device. Without such software, operators will replace a user's device or ask them to send it off for disinfection, both costly propositions. A network-based security mechanism offers some advantages over anti-virus software that sits on the handset, Burke said. Handset software doesn't prevent phishing and other nonviral scams. In addition, anti-virus software isn't compatible with all phones, making it logistically difficult for the software developers to tweak their products for each version of every phone and make sure to sell the proper software to end users. He calls anti-virus software on the handset "the minimum acceptable response. It's a tick in the box to make people feel comfortable." Some developers also sell security mechanisms that sit in the phone's hardware. Such solutions are ideal for organizations with very strict security requirements, such as government users, Burke said. One downside to the hardware-based solutions is that they take about two years to make it into a handset, he noted.
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Rapid growth of the country's cell phone market has companies dreaming of a speed-dial to success. But the risks are high.
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Wireless companies are under pressure to police the services they carry amid mounting concern that today's increasingly versatile cell phones can be gateways to a lot more than football highlights and pop videos.
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Finnish security firm F-Secure has warned that open platforms like Symbian in smartphones are turning into a security challenge with increasing instances of malware attacks.
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If G.P.S. made it harder to get lost, new cellphone services that track whereabouts are now making it harder to hide.
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Cellphone services are gearing up for a fight with handset makers -- and it's all about Wi-Fi