[real-eyes] Is your Smart Phone safe from hackers?
- From: "Ben Blagg" <bblagg@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:32:05 -0500
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Smartphone security threats likely to rise
By Doug Gross, CNN
October 25, 2009 6:27 p.m. EDT
Smartphones are attack-resistant, but experts say their growing numbers make
them attractive targets.
Smartphones are attack-resistant, but experts say their growing numbers make
them attractive targets.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
. As smartphone popularity rises, so will security threats, experts
say
. Users should use same caution on phones they do on laptops or
desktops
. Mass attacks are harder to carry out on phones than on traditional
computers
. Individuals are more likely to be targeted for personal, financial
info
RELATED TOPICS
. Smartphones <http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Smartphones>
. Computer Security <http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Computer_Security>
(CNN) -- Worms, spam, viruses and hackers -- they're not just for your
desktop or laptop anymore. According to internet security experts they could
be well on their way into your pocket or purse.
The popularity of smartphones -- like the Blackberry, iPhone, Palm and the
emerging Droid -- is on the rise and shows no signs of letting up.
And that's making the phones a sweeter target for online ne'er do-wells
looking to, at the very least, cause mischief and, at worst, rip off
unsuspecting phone owners.
"It's guaranteed that almost everything we see on a computer will show up on
a smartphone -- and some new things," said Jake Widman, a San
Francisco-based technology writer and analyst.
Last year, more than 139 million smartphones were sold worldwide, a 13.9
percent increase from 2007, according to the British technology analysis
firm Gartner.
With Apple planning to release the iPhone in China, and a more affordable
Android handset expected to hit the market by the end of the year, the pool
of potential targets is only expected to get deeper.
And compared to even a year ago, when analysts say most people used
smartphones mostly for voice calls and e-mail, an increasing number of users
are now surfing the Web, paying bills and doing other activities that open
them up to abuses.
"When the market increases, there are generally more people going after it
because there's a bigger potential for gain," said Andrew Storms, who
directs safety efforts at online security companynCircle
<http://www.ncircle.com/> .
Security companies already have seen several threats hitting smartphones. In
most cases, they say, they're targeted at individuals rather than the
millions of desktop or laptop users that a typical e-mail attack can impact.
"What we haven't seen is the massive anonymous attacking across all of the
smartphone bases," Storms said. "[Traditional] worms and viruses continue to
breed and move on from computer to computer -- the attacks we see today on
the smartphone market are targeted attacks."
Security analysts say they've already seen all of the major online threats
-- Trojan horses, viruses, worms -- spreading on smartphones, often through
e-mail attachments sent to the phones.
One attack even used a Bluetooth headset to try to attack other Bluetooth
users within 20 feet of the infected unit.
Security problems most pronounced in the early days of the smartphone --
when a majority of them ran on a single operating system and it was easier
for malware to spread from one phone to the next.
One of the problems now, analysts say, is that people who take security
precautions on their home computers either forget to do so with their phones
or don't think they need to in the first place.
"We've not become accustomed to thinking twice about it," Storms said. "The
risk exists. It's going to continue to exist and continue to increase."
A survey by security firm Trend Micro Incorporated suggested that only 23
percent of smartphone users enable security software already loaded onto
their phones and 44 percent think surfing the internet on their phone is as
safe or safer than doing so on a desktop computer -- even with no security
software.
The good news, experts say, is that phones present problems for hackers and
other bad guys that traditional computers don't.
Most viruses and other malware are designed for Windows, because that's the
most popular operating system. Since smartphones use a variety of different
platforms, someone writing malicious software needs to pick and choose.
And while e-mail databases exist that enable phishers, spammers and others
to blast their messages to huge chunks of users at once, it's tougher to get
lists of telephone numbers, much less numbers specifically for smartphone
users.
"There's a greater barrier to entry for the black hats," Storms said. "It's
a little bit more of a difficult platform to attack."
Khoi Nguyen, a group product manager for security provider Symantec, said
that in a world of sophisticated online technology, smartphone users are
most likely to fall prey to a more basic attack -- old-fashioned theft.
He said phone users are 15 times more likely to lose that device than a
laptop. That's a recipe for disaster when their phone isn't protected by a
password, he said.
"It's easy for someone to go in and get automatic access to their e-mail,
automatic access to their mobile banking accounts," he said. "A lot of
thieves are realizing that there's not just value in the phone any more --
there's value in the data."
The makers of the world's most popular smartphones say they're constantly
working to keep up with the latest threats.
Scott Totzke, vice-president of Blackberry's <http://www.blackberry.com/>
security group, said the number and severity of mobile attacks he's seen so
far have been minimal -- but that that could easily change.
"When you look at the evolution of malware, it never gets worse -- it always
gets more sophisticated and more refined," he said. "As an industry ... we
have to really look at where those trends are going and understand that
everything we saw in the last 25 years in the PC world is probably going to
happen much faster in the mobile world."
Totzke advises all smartphone users to enable a password, quickly download
security updates from their phones operator system and carefully consider
the source of any applications they download.
The bottom line, according to experts? Treat your smartphone like a
computer, not a telephone.
"There's a terrific upside to having a smart phone in your hand, but buyer
beware," Storms said. "With that power comes an inherent risk."
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