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A report published by Georgia Tech Information center warns that mobile is going to be slithered by the spammers. Security researchers threatened that the mobile or cellphone is going to be attacked more than PC.
The researchers said that nowadays mobile computing and internet mobiles are dealing with more data so they are going to be a frequent target.The concern is that hackers will begin stealthily taking over phones the way they’ve taken over network computers, turning them into virtual “bots” to do their bidding . Because of cell phones’ increasing computing power — not to mention their always-on nature — the researchers fear they’ll soon become an obvious target.
“Large cellular botnets could then be used to perpetrate a [denial of service] attack against the core of the cellular network,” says Patrick Traynor, an assistant professor at Georgia Tech involved in the study. “But because the mobile communications field is evolving so quickly, it presents a unique opportunity to design security properly — an opportunity we missed with the PC,” he adds.
The overall lack of cell phone security so far is one of the first issues Traynor and his team are trying to tackle. Right now, they say, proper antivirus protection would drain too much of a phone’s battery and thus prove to be unpractical. Add in the fact that most people tend to be trusting when it comes to voice technology, and you have the potential for disaster.
“Most people have been trained to enter social security numbers, credit card numbers, [and] bank account numbers … over the phone while interacting with voice response systems,” says Tom Cross, an IBM Internet Security Systems researcher also involved in the research. “Criminals will exploit this social conditioning to perpetrate voice phishing and identity theft.”
As intense as it all sounds, there’s likely no cause for panic. The researchers point out that the relatively closed nature of cellular networks compared to the Internet will help carriers combat ill-intended tactics. They also note that they’ve seen no evidence of these types of hacks actually being plotted yet.
Rather, they’re looking at the ripe environment as an opportunity to put up protection before it becomes too late.
Tags: Antivirus, botnets, Georgia Tech University
6 Responses to “Mobile: in danger of SPAM”
james touso October 23rd, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Nice thoughts..
A Tucson SEO December 8th, 2008 at 3:54 am
I will be including your blog with the next Do Follow List update.
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Hosted Exchange December 10th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
A brave new world.. here we come.
From previous post, “once you know its spam you just don’t even bother” think the point is being missed here, not spam as in ads where you can simply “opt out” or is aware of the spamming. Talking nasty malicious bots doing serious damage.
david December 16th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
I thought phones are safe.I am surprised that criminals are starting to put their hands on our phones.Something serious action should be done.
qwerty guy December 30th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Well, people just need to use common sense and ignore any promotions received via cell phone.
It largely depends on the carrier too. Here in Britain, my carrier is spam free while my pal who is using another service provider is receiving several spam messages a day.
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Jordans October 24th, 2008 at 12:25 am
But I don’t really see how spam on the phone will help companies get turnaround customers… once you know its spam you just don’t even bother.
IDK that just be me.
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