Information Security News mailing list archives
Android security chief: Mobile-phone attacks coming
From: InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 04:10:22 -0500 (CDT)
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9136593/Android_security_chief_Mobile_phone_attacks_coming?taxonomyId=17 By Robert McMillan August 12, 2009 IDG News Service As smartphones become more popular, they're going to get some unwanted attention from criminals, Google Inc.'s head of Android security said today. "The smartphone OS will become a major security target," said Android Security Leader Rich Cannings, speaking at the Usenix Security Symposium. Attackers can already hit millions of victims with a smartphone attack, and soon that number will be even larger. "Personally I think this will become an epiphany to malware authors," he said. Microsoft's Windows operating system is the prime target of criminal attacks, and hackers have generally steered clear of mobile devices. Security experts say that this is because mobile phones haven't traditionally stored a lot of sensitive data, and because there are so many different devices to attack, it's hard to create a single virus that can infect a large number of users. That may be changing as more and more people start using iPhones, BlackBerries, and -- Google hopes -- Android-based phones such as the Samsung I7500. [...] ________________________________________ Subscribe to InfoSec News http://www.infosecnews.org
Current thread:
- Android security chief: Mobile-phone attacks coming InfoSec News (Aug 13)