Possible threats to mobile users in 2012

Guest post from Andrew Ford.

This is quite an exciting week for my inaugural blog; Earlier this month, Norton by Symantec announced the availability of Norton Tablet Security and an update of Norton Mobile Security Followed by Get Safe Online Week which focused on threats to smart phones from rogue apps and malware .

This got me thinking about what the biggest threats to mobile users in 2012 will be.  I had a chat with Orla Cox, one of my colleagues in the Symantec Security Response Centre in Dublin and this is what she had to say;

Orla Cox;

“We’ll likely to continue to see an increase in attacks via mobile platforms. In the past year we’ve seen 40 new families of mobile threats.  This number will continue to increase over the next year.  At the same time, however, PC threats will continue to be most dominant, vector numbers wise.  We continue to add detection for 60,000 new threats every week”

I also asked Orla how she thought the  bad guys would be making their cash in 2012 and she pointed out that the increase in the use of mobile devices for financial transactions will continue to make them a more attractive target for criminals.  Using  smart phones or tablets to make payments means that users must store their credit card details on the phone, therefore we may see attackers creating malware that can steal that data. We may also see threats which follow the trend in Windows malware such as Rogue Antivirus software.

I know myself that the open and ubiquitous platforms are the most attractive for attackers and for that reason Android will likely continue to be the more attractive platform to attach.  If we see an increase in popularity for Windows Mobile-Nokia devices, then these too may become attractive to attacker. Apple iPhones and iPads will also not be immune from threats due to the millions now being used across the world. Indeed using any mobile device in an open wifi environment leaves a user open to other people capturing the data they transmit across the airwaves.

All this said, it remains more important than ever to be smart when using your smart phone and tablet.

As a minimum users should lock their phone with a pin code (you would be surprised just how many people don’t use this simple function on their phone).  This is a simple function that can save users a lot of hassle if their phone falls into the wrong hands.  At the other end of the scale, users can install mobile security on their mobile device. Caution should also be used when connecting to wifi hotspots.

Mobile devices are now mini computers and people keep their lives on them. How do you protect your device?

November 23, 2011 | Filed Under Family Online Safety, Identity theft, Mobile, Security, Technology | Leave a Comment 

The risks of cybercrime…

Guest post from Simon Ellson.

With the evolution of technology comes the development of a whole load of other things, including crime. Over the years crime in the virtual world – also known as cybercrime- has increased. Our own, Norton Cybercrime Report shows that cybercrime is a hundred times bigger than the annual expenditure of UNICEF.

What sets cybercrime apart from other crime is that it can happen to anyone, at any time, and often it involves your personal details – the information that you go at lengths to protect – being stolen.

Take Jacquelyn Moulds from Clapham, London. She had over £4000 go missing from her savings account. After contacting the bank she was told that she’d been the victim of a phishing scam; someone had obtained her bank log-in details, logged into her account and set up a new payment – there was no trace of who or where the money had been sent to.

The investigations carried out showed that Jacquelyn’s account details had been stolen whilst she was accessing her account online. When exactly they were stolen was unknown and because Jacquelyn accessed her account from multiple computers, it was difficult to pinpoint the exact time and computer her details were stolen from.

Luckily, Jacquelyn’s bank reimbursed her money, however, this is does not happen in all cases. It’s therefore important to be vigilant: use strong passwords, don’t click on suspicious emails or web links, only make payments on secure websites and of course get your computer or device protected.

Jacquelyn’s story is just one example of cybercrime. If you or anyone you know has been a victim of cybercrime, then get in touch and help us to increase the awareness of the risks of cybercrime.

November 14, 2011 | Filed Under Identity theft, Norton Cybercrime Report, Security, Spam | Leave a Comment