Nice Article: Dark Side Arises for Phone Apps

I have just read a very nice article on the Wall Street Journals web site titled “Dark Side Arises for Phone Apps“.

Here are a couple of paragraphs that really caught my attention,

In one incident, Google pulled dozens of unauthorized mobile-banking apps from its Android Market in December. The apps, priced at $1.50, were made by a developer named “09Droid” and claimed to offer access to accounts at many of the world’s banks. Google said it pulled the apps because they violated its trademark policy.

The apps were more useless than malicious, but could have been updated to capture customers’ banking credentials, said John Hering, chief executive of Lookout, a mobile security provider. “It is becoming easier for the bad guys to use the app stores,” Mr. Hering said.

“Mobile phones are a huge source of vulnerability,” said Gordon Snow, assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cyber Division. “We are definitely seeing an increase in criminal activity.” The FBI’s Cyber Division recently began working on a number of cases based on tips about malicious programs in app stores, Mr. Snow said.

The cases involve apps designed to compromise banking on cellphones, as well as mobile “malware” used for espionage by foreign nations, said a person familiar with the matter. To protect its own operations, the FBI bars its employees from downloading apps on FBI-issued smartphones.

Click here to read the full article (it’s a good one) on the Wall Street Journals web site.