Criminals still prefer PCs to steal personal information, bank account numbers and credit card information, as well as for fraud. However, most PC attacks focus on decade-old Windows XP Microsoft operating system, which is slowly replaced by Windows 7 safer. In the next few years, hackers will have to find new targets.
With Smartphones outselling PC for the first time — 421 million laptops are expected to be sold worldwide this year, according to market analysts at IDC — the wave long-predicted crime on handhelds seems to have arrived. According to mobile-security firm Lookout, malware and spyware appeared on phones 9 out of 100 which is analyzed in may, more than double the rate of 4-in-100 in December 2009.
In fact, the most practical rule to protect yourself is to start thinking of a smartphone as a PC.
Most damaging incidents on mobile devices involve bogus phone or SMS charges or Rogue mobile applications, of which there are now more than 500 varieties, according to F-Secure, a Finnish security company. All these Rus requiring users to take some kind of action such as clicking to accept or install a program, so be careful when using mobile devices can prevent most problems. (However, experts warn that automated attacks are possible and that may emerge in the future.)
Most attacks take place in Eastern Europe and China. A vast number — 88 percent, according to F-Secure — have identified devices running Nokia's Symbian operating system. Symbian is the most commonly used smartphone platform, but Nokia said this month that it would be replaced for the coming years with Microsoft Windows Phone operating system.
Early attacks, such as Cabir and Commwarrior Worm in 2004 and 2005, caused little damage. But since 2009, the attacks have grown more threatening. In September, hackers trying to steal money from accounts with a Spanish bank harmful applications on Symbian devices when they synchronized home PC infected with a malware version of ZeuS. The application enabled criminals respond to security codes sent by the Bank to validate the transfer of cash.
These attacks could be a preview of what's to come for popular devices in the United States. Criminals have attacked the phones running on Google's Android, Research In Motion's BlackBerry, Apple iPhone operating system software and Microsoft Windows Mobile, suggesting that more later.
Some experts believe that Android will become a top target for malware, because anyone can create and deploy an application anywhere on the Web. Google apps check for security issues, but has instead required technical barriers to thwart malicious activity. For example, apps run in a "sandbox", a closed environment, where they cannot influence one another or manipulate the capabilities of the device without your permission. Google removes from his official Android market any apps that break the rules against malicious activity.
Ten attacks have been directed to users of Android, including a malicious program called Geinimi that appeared in the markets of third-party Android app in China in December. This addition to legitimate applications, mostly games, allowed hackers to manipulate text messages, contact lists of stealing, make calls, visit websites and safely download files.
Attacks highlight the importance of diligence during the download of mobile applications. Users should install applications only from sites you trust. They should search apps so that they are malware. A smartphone is "a microcomputer in hand and you can get Trojans and worms and viruses, as a PC can," said Andy Hayter, anti-malcode manager at ICSA Labs, an independent safety-testing owned by Verizon.
The maniache may also want to use a security product; free and paid products are available to all, but the iPhone platform by major security companies such as F-Secure, Symantec and Kaspersky as well as specialized provider as Lookout and DroidSecurity.
Tighter controls on the use of third-party software on mobile devices can help explain the limited number of attacks so far, says Mikko Hypponen h., chief research officer at F-Secure. For example, regulated environment most of Apple has kept mostly trouble at Bay.
The malware only seen on the iPhone in 2009 occurred and affected phones that had been altered to run software that Apple doesn't allow. A worm in Australia replaced the background of the phone with an image of the singer pop 80s Rick Astley, a prank known as "rickrolling. There was also an attempt to blackmail people to pay 5 euros and a worm which tried to steal the details of the account by the customers of a Dutch Bank.
Partly for security reasons, Microsoft in October has moved towards a system for its new Windows phone 7 app that restricts the sale to its market and issued guidelines for developers that tightened security and confidentiality requirements. Microsoft says that runs tests of security in any new app.
Mr. Hypponen attacks that bill phones are the most promising way for criminals to make money, says. Hackers are understand this out, as demonstrated by the more fraud on Facebook, asking people to complete online surveys and provide mobile numbers, receiving and monthly expenses. Check your bills carefully for unusual expenses.
BlackBerry rarely are attacked because the devices are typically provided and controlled by employers, safety-conscious and mobile phones are not commonly used in countries such as Russia and China, in the homes of many creators of malware. The most common problem seen on BlackBerry — and on other platforms — are commercial spyware as FlexiSPY, which are installed secretly by somebody — usually a jealous spouse — who wants to track the position of the owner of a mobile phone, listen to the calls and read text messages and e-mail messages.
"You can even turn on your microphone remotely and hear what is being discussed around the phone, even if there is no phone calls that take place," said Mr. Hypponen.
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