Mobile Devices Security
By Mike Ber
As this security solution is not such a great idea, other companies have researched, and finally found a new way to prevent cell phones and PDAs theft. This method permits to remotely disable up to four different tasks of a stolen cell phone or PDA, rendering it inoperable. But at the same time data contained in the device are locked. The beauty of this option is that the unit is not damaged in any way - full functionality and data can be easily restored if the device is recovered. Thus, the device is useless to the thief, but it can be reactivated and restored if it is recovered and returned to its rightful owner.
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Another new security breach has been encountered
this year when reports were received about a
backdoor Trojan horse program that can take
control over a mobile device. This is the first
known backdoor Trojan horse for PDAs. The subject
program, identified as Backdoor.Brador.A, attacks
PDAs running the Windows operating system. And
like all backdoors, it cannot spread by itself.
The Trojan arrives as an e-mail attachment or
can be downloaded from the Internet.
Also, it
has a complete set of destructive functions
characteristic for backdoors. After it is installed,
this small program is activated when the PDA
is restarted and begins to look for a remote
administrator to take control of the device.
Security specialists claim the virus was written
by a Russian virus coder since it was attached
to an e-mail with a Russian sender address and
contained Russian text. Fortunately, the Trojan’s
threat control and removal was rated as "easy".
The important thing about this virus is not
the number of devices affected, because this
number is very small, but the fact that this
is the first one that appeared on the "market"
is considered to be very important. We have
to admit that it is hardly surprising that viruses
have found their way to mobile devices. This
is the natural trend. Where technology goes,
viruses will follow. As the new technology shifts
into the mobile market, these threats will move
in that direction also. The specialists from
the Kaspersky Labs claim they were expecting
a virus attack on a PDA, due to the latest attacks
against other mobile devices. Now, the PDA users
look at a real danger and it is a well known
fact that interested intruders will grab the
chance to attack PDAs and mobile phones in the
near future. Virus threats development for mobile
devices is passing through the same stages as
the one for desktops.
Almost at the same time with the appearance
of the first Trojan for PDAs, the first virus
to affect cell phones has also arrived. This
worm is called “Cabir”, and it has
been spotted by some security specialists who
issued an alert concerning the danger. Cabir
spreads using a file named “Caribe.sis”
and travels across devices working with the
Symbian operating system which is used in PDAs
and many cell phones. Cabir places itself usually
on a mobile device when a user agrees to a transmission
showing the text message "Caribe".
After that the worm begins a nonstop search
particularly for Bluetooth-connected wireless
devices to send itself to. Also, the battery’s
life of the infected device is harshly reduced
during this process. The inventors of Cabir
did not design the worm to spread massively.
It was intended to be a test demonstrating that
these mobile devices can be easily infected
by viruses because of their rapid maturation.
The worm rated with a low risk because it has
to be intentionally activated by a mobile phone
user, and also allowing the Caribe package requires
pressing a button prior the files can be loaded
into the receiving phone.
It was predictable that viruses and worms for
cell phones and PDAs would appear. This is the
end result of the impressive advances made in
mobile communication technology in the past
years. Over time, cell phones and PDAs turn
out to be more PC-like, making them vulnerable
to viruses. And because they are more PC-like,
smart cell phones and PDAs are mostly used by
companies for mission-critical applications
and data storage. Also they are used for receiving
emails and text messages just like desktop computers.
That makes their users just as exposed to viruses
and worms. These security concerns can be dealt
with software-encryption solutions that need
to be attached to the new devices. The encryption
technology expands to mobile devices the identical
type of security that many companies have organized
into their desktop computers. It encrypts data
and prevents illegal access to the data stored
within the device, which is either lost or stolen.
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