Though
mobile malware has been circulating for more than three years,
Mikko Hypponen, director of antivirus research at F-secure, has
seen no evidence of phones being targeted for the type of
profit-motivated attacks PC users have suffered at the hands of
botnets, rootkits and self-spreading worms. But believes more
sophisticated mobile phone attacks are coming, with the bad guys
emboldened by the current craze over Apple's iPhone.
Hypponen has been a leading voice on the dangers
of mobile malware, repeatedly warning IT professionals to
prepare for attacks where phone infections could be passed to
company networks. He repeated those warnings at the recent
Usenix Security Symposium in Boston, predicting that attackers
will be inspired by the iPhone's popularity.
"The iPhone has really put the concept of smart phones on the
table, especially in the United States," he said in an interview
with SearchSecurity.com. "The amount of hype around the iPhone is
pretty unbelievable, so it's a given that people will continue to
play around with it and find ways around the security features of
the phone. It's quite likely that we'll see iPhone malware sooner
or later."
 | | | | | It's quite likely that we'll see
iPhone malware sooner or later.
Mikko Hypponen,
director of antivirus research at
F-Secure |
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The security of the iPhone has been the topic of much debate in
the information security community, and late last month a group of
security researchers unveiled a couple of simple
ways to take complete control of the iPhone. The results
were the first real success researchers have had in trying to
find ways to exploit the new device, which lacks many of the
common user interfaces and inputs that hackers rely on for
successful attacks.
Hypponen is among the legions of experts picking the phone apart
in search of weaknesses. One of his more encouraging observations
is that it will probably be very difficult, if not impossible, to
create iPhone malware that could be spread to other smart
phones.
"It is probably unlikely because iPhone is such a closed device
that runs its own operating system," he said. "We have seen a
little over 370 different examples of malware running on smart
phone platforms. Almost all of them target Symbian-based phones,
because Symbian is by far the market leader, with over half the
smart phones in the world running that operating system. Bluetooth
is the most common vector of how malware jumps from one device to
the other."
But while iPhone has Bluetooth, he said, the Bluetooth chip
cannot be used on the device for file transmissions. If there were
self-spreading malware on iPhones, it would probably be spread by
email, Hypponen said.
 |
| Apple iPhone security: | Apple iPhone crack discovered by security
researchers:Researchers have found a way to take complete
control of the Apple iPhone by sending a user to a malicious Web
site.
Thoughts on the iPhone security hype:
Spooked by all those iPhone security warnings? Most security
bloggers are not, since the threats against Apple's new device
are nothing new.
Podcast: Security Squad - Apple iPhone security
SearchSecurity.com editors discuss the state of Apple iPhone
security, Google's continued march into the security market and
vulnerability disclosure in the wake of the eBay-like vulnerability
auction site, WabiSabiLabi.
Download
MP3 |
|
| |
|
Even if one takes the iPhone out of the equation, he said it's
only a matter of time before attackers launch more sophisticated
attacks against smart phones in general. While there are currently
no signs of botnets using mobile phones, for example, he said the
threat might grow in the future because mobile phone processing
power and mobile network connection speeds are growing. "I could
see mobile phone botnets being used to send email spam or text
messaging spam to other phones," he said.
Hypponen noted that there are about 3 billion mobile phones in
circulation around the world, with tens of thousands of mobile
malware infections reported thus far. The Cabir and Commwarrior
malware is now afflicting phones in more than 30 countries.
"Cabir was the first, appearing in June 2004, and it's still
spreading," he said.
In recent interviews, when asked how mobile malware could spread
to desktops and corporate networks, he pointed to malware called
SymbOS.Cardtrap as an example. It installs Windows malware on the
infected phone's memory card and tries to fool users into
investigating the phone problems with a PC and a memory card
reader, making it possible for Windows malware to spread. Mobile
devices provide a wider variety of communication methods than
traditional PCs, and this could mean new ways to spread malware, he
said.
To guard against mobile malware, he has recommended IT
professionals use common sense and install security software both
for their PCs as well as to their smart phones. He also warns
against accepting or installing software from untrusted sources, or
swapping memory cards between phones."