Smartphones and the Security of the Data in Them - Term Paper Example

A Survey of the Current of Security in Smartphones A Survey of the Current of Security in Smartphones In recent times, a multitude of technological advancements have developed within society such as modern personal computers, networks, and very advanced mobile smartphones. These types of advancements have slowly crept into society and have gone from luxury to norm, to necessity, and have migrated from the workplace to leisure and everyday use. These technologies have become smaller, lighter, more diverse, customizable and easier to use. This is why they have found their way into our everyday activities, and entrust them with our most valuable information. The down side to this is that since these technologies are used by people everyday and hold our most important information, they are also extremely prone to attacks. Personal computers can be hacked, or could get viruses and spyware, while networks are the target of security breaches, and of course, smartphones can be attacked as well. These technologies are targets for the same reason we use them; they are capable of running our lives. Nowadays, you can do banking from your home or phone. You can transfer bank funds via your network, you can keep the passwords of your utilities in your Smartphone, and you can also keep track of your stocks and other assets through these methods as well. Attacks come in different forms and target different kinds of information. This paper will focus on one of the above mentioned technologies, the smart phones, it will look at the kinds of attacks that could affect a smartphone, and look at current literature regarding available security options for smartphones. This paper will concentrate on smartphones and it will dig deeper into the current status of smartphone security. It will be discussed as: What is a smartphone? Discussion of literature regarding attacks on smartphones Discussion of literature regarding security options for smartphones. What is a smartphone? Before we can get into the details of the attacks and security options for a smartphone, we first need to discuss what a smartphone is. According to cellphones.about.com, a smart phone is “is a device that lets you make telephone calls, but also adds features that you might find on a personal digital assistant or a computer.” This means that technically, smartphone is a miniature personal computer or laptop that is able to make calls because according to the article, “A smartphone also offers the ability to send and receive e-mail and edit Office documents, for example.” These kinds of features allow us to do banking, social networking, communication of multiple methods, and asset management through these devices. This is normally used and abused by business owners and company managers that need to bring their work wherever they go, or by entrepreneurs and free-lance employees and contractors as they may get work orders at any given time. These functions are very useful for people on the move on a regular basis, and even for people who feel the need to stay connected on a regular basis but as advanced these functions may be, they are also more prone to attacks such as viruses and spyware. When comparing regular phones to smartphones, although smartphones generally have more capabilities, they are also much more prone to receiving and being affected by viruses, as some older phones either are not able to receive viruses or even if they do receive them, most to not have the ability to run them. Discussion of literature regarding attacks on smartphones As we know, there are many different smartphones, using different operating systems, with different interfaces and applications, and as previously mentioned, there may be just as many ways of attacking these smartphones. This part of the paper aims to discus current literature regarding the certain kinds of treats and attacks that smartphones are normally vulnerable to. This particular portion also would like to touch on some of the reasons why smartphones get infected or become targets of attacks. To start with, an article by inc.com regarding rootkits gives us a bit of perspective on exactly what kind of threats exist for smartphones. Based on the article, a rootkit is a type of malware. It attacks the smartphones’s operating system and uses it s functions remotely. They are hard to detect and relatively simple to get. This type of threat is dangerous in the sense that if you keep a good amount of personal information or banking information this may be remotely sent to someone who would make use of them for their own purposes at the original owner’s expense. Another article by zdnet.com is this time, specific to Android operating system smartphones. It stresses that a large amount of smartphones using the android operating system are vulnerable because of the way it uses Google service apps. This is not to discount the danger for smartphones with other operating systems as they are in danger in other ways. One more article to discuss focuses on the HTC bran smartphones. The article by pcworld.com indicates that certain newer HTC smartphones are prone or vulnerable to attacks via Bluetooth connectivity. For those who do not know, Bluetooth is a type of wireless connectivity available for newer phones, similar to infrared back in the day without the need for direct line of sight. It gives the phones connectivity and the ability to send files to each other, or communicate wirelessly to personal computers, or use other Bluetooth devices such as headphones, within a certain range or distance. The key to Bluetooth is that it has to be turned on to use. The article tells us that certain HTC phones with “Windows Mobile 6.1 are prone to a directory traversal vulnerability in the Bluetooth OBEX FTP Service” This means that an attacker is capable of getting someone’s contacts, messages and other information using bluetooth connectivity. Yet another discussion on malware threats to smartphones was posted on techtarget.com. This particular commentary notes that ideally there would be no security issues with smartphones, but in recent times, this is not the case. Malware programs can and will infect your smartphone the same way it can infect your PC if you are not careful. As you may notice in the examples above, there is no longer a need to steal or posses the mobile device in order for you to make use of its contents. Hackers and programmer can create programs to infect your devices such as smartphones and take your information, or use it against you, or destroy your data. Aside from invasive programs, another way to attack a smartphone is through its web browser, according to arstechnica.com in one of their articles. This particular article indicates that some threats can come through a phone browser either through applications or masked as updates and such. With so many threats on security for smartphones and other devices, it is very hard for us to entrust our information in one device. On the other hand, most people who use these devices find that working or even living without them can be quite challenging. The next portion of this paper will look at some articles that discuss ways for the mobile phone users to protect their smartphones and the data inside them. Discussion of literature regarding security options for smartphones. With the information gathered regarding multiple security threats that are currently present and looming today, we can definitely say that there is a significant issue regarding smartphones and the security of the data in them. And as with wars and other conflicts that have come across humanity in the past, it is our natural response to build a defense for any threat that we encounter and develop these defenses according to any developing threats. The following parts of this paper will discuss articles that provide us with information regarding ways of securing and protecting your smartphones, both physically and its data. One article we can look at is made by mobilemarketer.com. It discusses the lack of security software in smartphones and indicates that there is definitely a need for security software for these devices. The article stated “only 4 percent of smartphones and tablets are protected with security software” but goes on to discuss that security software is now a need rather than an option. Another article, this time by pcworld.com provides us with tips and tricks on how to keep your mobile safe. Some of the best practices that were presented in the article are installation of security software, setting a time out or auto lock for the phones, remote data destruction incase the phone gets lost or stolen, limiting the use of third party apps and such. These tips and best practices give us a set of habits and rules to go on specially if the phone is used for business or if they hold very important information. One more tip I can share is turning off your bluetooth connection when not in use, as it is possible to pass on viruses via bluetooth. Another article that has good information is by pcmag.com. Similar to the first article, this one also provides us different security measures for different types of phones. It still sticks to most to the basics like turning off your bluetooth as security software. This is in order to prevent any attacks that are aimed at you, your phone, or your information. But how about threats that are already in your phones? One way to stop any occurring attacks like virus or malware is to do some virus and malware scans and sweeps in order to remove or destroy any treats that are already in the phones. This next article ponders on weather or not smartphone virus protection really works. In the end, the article concludes that an antivirus software for smartphones will work in certain conditions and that the security of your data is still dependent on you, and the kind of applications you choose to install. In the end, this paper recognizes that there are lots of threats that can and will try to attack your device and aim for your information, but it also recognizes that there are many ways of preventing, protecting and fighting off these treats and attacks. In the end, the security of your device is entirely up to you and how you choose to use the device, like what applications you use, and how careful you are with the connectivity and the communication of the device. Resources Cassavoy, L. (2011) What Is a Smartphone? About.com, retrieved Nov 4, 2011. http://cellphones.about.com/od/glossary/g/smart_defined.htm Does Smartphone Virus Protection Work? (2011). Computer-realm.net, retrieved Nov 4, 2011. http://www.computer-realm.net/does-smartphone-virus-protection-work/ Johnson, L. (June 16 2011) Security threats increase, smartphones not protected: study, mobilemarketer.com retrieved Nov 4, 2011 http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/research/10217.html Kingdley-Hughes, A. (May 17, 2011) 99.7% of all Android smartphones vulnerable to serious data leakage, zdnet.com, retrieved Nov 4 2011. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/997-of-all-android-smartphones-vulnerable-to-serious-data-leakage/12831 Lemon, S. Jul 14, 2009. HTC Smartphones Left Vulnerable to Bluetooth Attack, pcworld.com retrieved Nov 4, 2011 http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/168358/htc_smartphones_left_vulnerable_to_bluetooth_attack.html Lisa Phifer, L (2010) Smartphone security: The growing threat of mobile malware http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/tip/Smartphone-security-The-growing-threat-of-mobile-malware Rose, B. (Jan 10, 2011) Smartphone Security: How to Keep Your Handset Safe, pcworld.com, retrieved Nov 4, 2011 http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/216420/smartphone_security_how_to_keep_your_handset_safe.html Sarrel, M. (Jan 20, 2009) Smartphone Security Measures, pcmag.com retrieved on Nov 4, 2011http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2339121,00.asp Read More