Is your mobile safe? Think again
B Krishna MohanÂ
HYDERABAD: With technology rapidly evolving, mobiles
have become more accessible and some have transformed
into personal digital assistants (PDAs) offering
users a host of add-ons not just a hello.
Nonetheless, like any computer or a network, your
mobile phone is vulnerable to a virus attack. Data on
it could be erased or captured with a perverse
intent. Eyeing a business prospect in this, F-Secure,
a safety solutions company, is providing mobile
security as a service in itself, Jari Heinonen,
vice-president,
Asia-Pacific region, who visited Hyderabad, said.
It has already tied up with Nokia and other mobile
phone manufactures for installing a trial version of
its software in their latest models. "The number
of people using trial versions of our anti-virus
programmes is increasing," he said. There are
indications to believe it is not difficult to gain
root
level access to even Apple s iphone.
Once they gain access, it is easy to download the
phone s voice mail database file, get browser history
and everything else from the phone. A software
that is capable of recording all sound within
microphone range and then retrieve it from the phone
can be installed, Heinonen explained, adding that an
interactive phone with a malicious software installed
can be converted into a full-fledged spying device.
F-Secure tied up with Airtel recently to give its
broadband users protection from data theft.
This will offer a high level of security, parental
control and protection from data security threats
including phishing, viruses, spyware and malware.
The security service will be integrated into the
monthly internet subscription. It will first be given
to broadband home users and later, extended to
businesses
for an annual subscription. It will also monitor the
software behaviour on the computer and ensure that no
malicious programme takes over the computer.
The F-Secure vice-president warned, "there is an
upsurge in attacks against banking sites to acquire
personal user data using man in the browser
technique."
Simply put, once the computer is infected, the
malicious code is triggered only when the user visits
his online bank site.
This will retrieve the login and password that is
entered by the web user on the real web page of the
bank. This data is then sent to a site for storing
and this data is later sold to the highest bidder. So,
better be secure.
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