Smartphones Increasingly Affected by Mobile Spyware and Malware: Study

Malware and spyware in smartphones are spreading infectiously, finds a new study conducted by SMobile Systems, a provider of security solutions for mobile phones. 

 

The study on 1,958 smartphones revealed widespread infections by Spyware, Viruses Worms and Trojans. To escalate the damage caused to these devices, there are a large number of unlicensed software programs installed on them.

 

The attacks are transmitted via Bluetooth, short messaging services, multimedia messaging service, or e-mail, as well as spyware that is unwontedly being downloaded from various online application and shareware Web sites.

 

SMobile found that nearly one out of every 63 smartphones powered by the Symbian (News - Alert) operating system is infected with some form of malware. A comparison of this data to the worldwide smartphone population reveals that the number of infected devices globally counts in millions.

 

Interestingly, most of the infected users are completely unaware their devices have been compromised. This is due to the stealthy nature of the infections or the fact that few smartphones are provided with anti-malware applications. 

 

Researchers comment that these attacks are very concerning and financially motivated. For example, the spyware spreading on smartphones has the ability to intercept e-mail and SMS messages, allow hackers to listen-in on voice conversations and even track the location of the user. Such attacks can have a direct impact on critical financial transactions, mobile banking or sensitive business-oriented communications.

 

Worms are also being used to send premium SMS from infected devices, directly charging user cell phone accounts.

 

“As more and more people carry smartphones, the target-rich environment is proving to be incredibly tempting to hackers, spammers and criminals looking to steal vital information on these handsets,” said Neil Book, president of SMobile Systems (News - Alert), in a statement. “With millions upon millions of new devices in the market, the likelihood of unwanted infection increases.”

 

SMobile’s Global Threat Center monitors devices throughout the world for malware infections detected by its Security Shield software. SMobile GTC has reported a marked increase in the capabilities of new malware infecting mobile devices, as well as the frequency of attacks throughout 2009.

 

“The sophistication and ease of spreading malware is escalating; as such, the need for handset-based security has never been greater” Book concluded.

 

According to a new report from Cisco (News - Alert), since the start of 2009 at least two or three new campaigns have surfaced every week targeting handheld mobile devices. Cisco describes the rapidly growing mobile mobile device audience as a “new frontier for fraud irresistible to criminals.”

 

Cisco officials say that with some 4.1 billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide, a criminal may cast an extraordinarily wide net and still walk away with a nice profit, even if the attack yields only a small fraction of victims.