Mobile Phones:
The Next Frontier
for Hackers?

By Neal Leavitt

Security experts are finding a growing number of viruses, worms, and Trojan horses that target cellular phones. Although none of the new attacks has done extensive damage inthe wild, it’s only a matter of time before this occurs, noted Aaron Davidson, CEO of SimWorks International, a New Zealand-based antivirus company.

Security researchers’ attack simulations have shown that before long, hackers could infect mobile phones with malicious software that deletes personal data or runs up a victim’s phone bill by making toll calls. The attacks could also degrade or overload mobile networks, eventually causing them to crash. And they could be even more insidious in the future by stealing financial data, said Davidson.

Smart phones represent a particular risk. They offer Internet connectivity, function like minicomputers, and can download applications or files, some of which could carry malicious code.

Market research firm IDC predicts that by 2008, vendors will sell more than 130 million smart phones, representing 15 percent of all mobile phones. ARC Group, another market research firm, said 27 million smart phones were sold worldwide in 2004, accounting for about 3 percent of the total global handset market.

Mobile-device technology is still relatively new, and vendors have not developed mature security approaches, according to Matias Impivaara, director of mobile security services for antivirus-software vendor F-Secure. “The most worrying scenarios are not coming from stereotypical virus writers such as teenagers but from more organized [criminal groups].”

To counter the growing threat, antivirus companies have stepped up their research and development. In addition, vendors of phones and mobile operating systems are looking for ways to improve security.

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