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2010-07-15 13:43:08 | |
| A researcher from the SANS Institute asked the question to readers of his blog, and the answers raise concerns. | |
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As smartphone usage spreads faster everyday, we have come to fear that viruses and other malware would start infecting these devices, as they have had the PCs. And indeed, it seems malware infection on mobile phones is growing very fast.
In an article on DarkReading, we learn that "there were about nine pieces of malware and spyware per 100 smartphones as of [last June] -- more than twice as many as in November 2009." While it took years for malware to evolve and spread to the levels we know today on the PC, the same is now happening in a matter of months on mobiles. It is generally known and accepted that any PC needs adequate antivirus and firewall protection, as people are increasingly educated about the importance of securing their computers and data. However, the speed at which malware spreads on mobile platforms makes it even more attractive to hackers as the industry and especially the users are not reacting fast enough. This can be seen in the numbers with which Chris Carboni of SANS came up earlier this week. He asked his readers if they were scanning their mobile devices, and if they had ever found malware on them. This, as Carboni carefully notes, is obviously not a scientific study and is only meant to have an idea of the general picture. This is what he found: "Of 540 respondents to date (the six respondents listing other have been removed as their methods and results were not described)Statistically, given the data we have, this would mean that 83 of the 457 people who were not looking for malware would be infected. This means that of all the users whose device is infected, around 85% of them ignore it. Obviously, hackers can rejoice. On the bright side, security software is being developed for protecting smartphones. Carboni, in response to a request from a reader, suggested that users scan their device with a regular PC antivirus when they connect it to their computer. Specific products also exist for the scanning of smartphones, however. Lookout is one company that makes antivirus applications for smartphones. They currently support Android, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile. At the current rate, smartphone infection will soon be as important as infection on the PC. And as the DarkReading article points out, smartphones are usually much more "personal" than computers as contacts, physical location (through GPS tracking), SMS, emails and other private data is concentrated in the same spot. They are a gold mine for identity theives and private information resellers. | |
Reference 2: https://isc.sans.edu/diary.html?storyid=9160
Reference 3: https://isc.sans.edu/diary.html?storyid=9046
Reference 4: http://www.darkreading.com/insiderthreat/security/attacks/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=225402185
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