Smile...You're on Webcam!
A new more dangerous time for mobile device users, filled with mobile malware, is upon us. As with desktop computers, the world of PDAs and smartphones is no longer immune to malicious attack. The number of mobile malware attacks is on the rise, according to a study by the Informa Telecoms & Media that was sponsored by McAfee. Eighty-three percent of mobile operators surveyed have been hit by device infections. This is five times more than the number of incidents as recently as 2005. Nearly half of the mobile operators who have been the recipients of mobile malware experienced an attack within the last three months, according to the report. To date, nearly 400 mobile viruses have been detected. This is a staggering data point considering it has only been 3 years since the first instance of mobile malware was discovered in the wild. By comparison, it took TWENTY YEARS for traditional, wired malware to number 400.

OK...SO, WHAT IS MOBILE MALWARE?
Like malicious software (or "malware") in the wired world, mobile viruses are small programs that infect a host device. While most mobile phones are potential targets, smart phones and wireless PDAs as particularly attractive to fraudsters given their advanced capabilities to support PC-like applications including Web browsing and instant messaging.

And, mobile malware can be downright...creepy. One particularly alarming mobile virus, according to Paul Miller, managing director of Symantec's mobile security group, is a form of snoopware that allows hackers to activate a microphone on a smartphone:

Once that happens, anybody--from a stranger in the bedroom to a competitor in the boardroom--can listen in on a person's life at any time.

Even more disturbing are mobile malware variants that can take over one's camera phone! So, for those of you who charge your cell phones on your night stand every night?smile, because you could be on candid Web camera. With more than 70 percent of mobile phone owners using their devices as an alarm clock. Our phones are always with us now. This can't even be called spyware, because it is so much more.

The first such applications were sold as "spouse monitoring tools" last year, he commented, adding, "It didn't take long, though, for someone to write a malicious stealth code." So, like every other from of hacking it has not taken long for mobile malware to move from mischief to malicious to criminal.

Securing mobile communications is big business, particularly considering the number of people currently using their smart phones or PDA to conduct on-line transactions and banking. According to industry experts, the success mobile banking and payments, as well as the concept of the mobile wallet, will be measured against the industry's ability to effectively contain the malware problems to a level that is at least on par with that of the existing Internet channel.

This is the first book for IT professionals charged with this responsibility. The book is written for cellular providers, security professionals in finance and banking industry, anti-virus developers and consultants, as well as security researchers. The book will analyze mobile malware currently being developed by malicious hackers and organized criminals. And, it will present cutting edge methods and techniques to defend mobile devices from this very real threat. Also included is a special chapter on threats specific to European networks, such as the Leslie virus, that infected more than 100,000 mobile devices in Spain.