Malware Threats Increase on Smartphones

According to statistics provided by BitDefender Labs, the number of malware families for smartphones has increased significantly. During May-June, 2011, 20 different malware families were identified. In June-July they increased by 55%, reaching 46 families.

Influenced by all the changes in phone industry, the history of cyber attacks is marked by several milestones:

The text messages that are sent to premium rate numbers

When they first appeared in 2010, the threats for mobile phones were based on a very simple scheme that, in terms of behavior, contained a combination of malware for PCs and a classic phone scam: a Trojan that was sending messages to premium rate numbers. The threat was spreading as a legitimate application – a media player, a game or a utility. Once the Trojan took over the device, it started sending SMS messages to premium rate numbers without the consent of the owner.

Stealing passwords and other confidential information

The next stage in the evolution of mobile threats was marked by the introduction of GPS, when cybercriminals’ interest moved towards obtaining critical information about the user and his phone. The threats created during this period were transmitting a series of confidential information, such as GPS coordinates, email addresses and passwords to a server, data that was then used for various criminal purposes. This is also the period when the first cases of identity theft and leaks via mobile phone occured.

Full control over the phone

The third stage is important because the information flow becomes bidirectional. Once entered a phone, the threat was installing a backdoor element, which allowed full real-time access for the criminals. In most of the cases, the malware contained rootkit type of elements (which provided offenders administrator rights) so the phone could be used later to install other threats. Now the stakes have changed and it is not just a matter of money. There are recorded cases of confidential data leaks from companies, by using smartphones.

Botnet networks

Once installed on the mobile phones, the “root” exploits have opened the way to botnet activity. The phones infected were included in a compromised network which is remotely controlled and could be used to launch attacks against corporate websites.

Unique device codes, details about the SIM cards and geographical location are becoming important data for the cybercriminals who can now steal money, confidential information. or they are able to launch DDoS attacks using your phone on corporate and government websites.

The latest types of threats combine all the functions mentioned above. In addition, social engineering techniques used to disseminate them, are hiding extremely well the differences between legitimate and illegitimate apps. Once installed, the threats take full control of phone, without the user suspecting anything. Besides stealing confidential information about user’s contacts or network data, they can place calls without being visible to the user.

How do you protect yourself?

Stay tuned and will tell you how you can protect yourself from these types of threats.

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