Australian IT Reports On Hackers Targeting Smartphones and Social Networks

Posted by admin on 7/Apr/2011 in In The News, Security Alert Log | 0 comments

I read an article on Australian IT this morning saying exactly what we have been telling you about for a while now. Hackers are targeting smartphones and social networks. Don’t ever say that nobody tried to warn you.

Here is an excerpt from the article.

Hackers are preying on smartphones and social networking hotspots, according to reports released by two computer security firms.

Cyber-criminals are also ramping up the sophistication and frequency of attacks on business and government networks, one of the companies, Symantec, said in the latest volume of its Internet Security Threat Report.

Symantec depicted a “massive” volume of more than 286 new computer threats on the internet last year, continued growth in attacks at online social networks and “a notable shift in focus” by hackers to mobile devices.

“The major mobile platforms are finally becoming ubiquitous enough to garner the attention of attackers,” Symantec said in its findings.

In March, smartphones running on Google-backed Android software were the target of the largest attack ever on the devices, noted a PandaLabs report focused on the first three months of this year.

Read the full article on Australian IT.

RSA 2011 Cybercrime Trends Report

Posted by admin on 1/Feb/2011 in Press Releases, Security Alert Log | 0 comments

This is a very important article/whitepaper that was published recently by RSA. It explicitly points to mobile phones being a security problem and makes specific mention of SMS and mobile banking being vulnerable.

The Current State of Cybercrime and What to Expect in 2011

Cybercrime continues to show no signs of slowing down. In fact, 2010 marked a year of several new threats and an increased level of sophistication in the attacks witnessed around the globe. As the new decade opens, cybercrime is diverging down a different path as cyber attacks move beyond the financial services industry and malware makes a shift from targeting consumer desktops to employees in the enterprise.

The RSA Anti-Fraud Command Center (AFCC ) has developed a list of the top cybercrime trends it expects to see evolve over the course of 2011.

The RSA Anti-Fraud Command Center is on the forefront of new threat detection and cybercrime intelligence, achieving several milestones including the shutdown of over 350,000 online attacks across 181 countries and launching the first commercial anti-phishing and anti-Trojan services in the industry.

In this white paper, RSA will review the current state of cybercrime based on what we witnessed in the last twelve months and provide a series of predictions on what to expect from cybercriminals in 2011.

Read the full article (PDF Format) as published by RSA on their web site (free registration required)

SMS Bank Tokens Vulnerable: RSA

Posted by admin on 26/Jan/2011 in Security Alert Log | 0 comments

I read a nice article today on zdnet.com.au. It is becoming clearer by the day that criminals are beginning to target the mobile device as an access point to user data.

The following in an excerpt from the article.

Mobile phone attacks will increase this year as criminals attempt to intercept SMS-based authentication tokens, according to security company RSA.

The tokens are designed to complement username and password log-in checks by requiring users to validate payments with unique numerical codes, in this instance sent by SMS.

It is becoming more popular, and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia claims to have 80 per cent of its customer base using tokens to validate third-party payments via SMS or through safer handheld token-number generators. The bank isn’t forcing customers to use it, but those who don’t will not be permitted to carry out high-risk transactions over NetBank.

RSA said in a 2011 predictions report that sending tokens via SMS will make phones a target.

“The use of out-of-band authentication SMS … as an additional layer of security adds to the vulnerabilities in the mobile channel,” the company said in its report.

“A criminal can … conduct a telephony denial-of-service attack which essentially renders a consumer’s mobile device unavailable.

“SMS forwarding services are also becoming mainstream in the fraud underground and enable the [token] sent by a bank via text to a user’s mobile phone to be intercepted and forwarded directly to the cyber criminal’s phone.”

Read the article in full on zdnet.com.au

UK, Australia to Talk Cyberwar

Posted by admin on 17/Jan/2011 in In The News | 0 comments

I wonder if the topic of SMS Security was raised? I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during the meeting!

The following is an excerpt of an article published on zdnet.com.au.

Australia’s defence and foreign ministers will meet with United Kingdom counterparts in Sydney tomorrow to discuss security matters, including cybersecurity.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith and Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd will host UK Foreign Secretary William Hague and Defence Secretary Liam Fox at the third Australia-United Kingdom Ministerial (AUKMIN) talks.

“Discussions at AUKMIN III will focus on current foreign, defence and security policy challenges, including in Afghanistan and Pakistan; changing dynamics in Asia; and approaches to counter-proliferation, counter-terrorism, space and cybersecurity,” Smith said.

In previous high-level discussions, UK Minister of Armed Forces Nick Harvey pushed for the creation of an offensive cybersecurity capability, while Smith said Australia is focused on building defensive systems.

Read the full article on zdnet.com.au.

Queensland University of Technology selects CellTrust Global SMS Gateway Platform for First of Kind Pilot for New Mothers

Posted by admin on 12/Oct/2010 in Application Watch, In The News, Press Releases | 0 comments

Queensland University of Technology’s “Mumbubconnect” Selects CellTrust’s Global SMS Platform Delivering Two-Way Text Messages to Breastfeeding Mothers across Australia.

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA, USA and SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – October 12, 2010 – CellTrust Corporation, the world’s largest provider of SecureSMS™ (Secure SMS) for mobile phones (www.celltrust.com), announced today that its GlobalSMS platform solution has been selected by the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), for the world’s first text message pilot program to offer breastfeeding support for new mothers in Australia.

The “Mumbubconnect” trial, concepted and engineered by Andre La Porte, a Digital Media and Social Marketing Specialist in Brisbane, Australia, for a team from QUT’s School of Public Health and the School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations, is the first of its kind to use two-way SMS to provide support for breastfeeding mothers. The text messages provide a direct link with breastfeeding women and offer support, encouragement and advice when needed. For example if a mother responds to a text message indicating she is struggling with breastfeeding, she will be sent an encouraging response, along with hints on how to get through the difficult times. This pilot program aims to facilitate QUT’s research and ultimately to increase breastfeeding rates among new mothers.

“Our research found that text messages are an ideal way to communicate with new mothers, because they send and receive messages on their mobile devices throughout the day,” said Mr. La Porte. “CellTrust Australia had our system up and running in less than two hours and it’s easy to use. I was astonished to find that a particular vendor would have to build a specific SMS platform application from scratch, and that other vendors with existing technology had platforms that were complicated to program and manage.”

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CellTrust Corp. Commences Operations with CellTrust Australia, Pty Ltd. To Provide Secure SMS and Mobile Marketing to Australia and New Zealand

Posted by admin on 5/Jun/2009 in Application Watch | 1 comment

U.S.-based CellTrust, the Secure SMS Messaging Leader, Establishes a Franchisee as Distribution Network on the Australian Continent.

Scottsdale, AZ, USA and Australia – June 3, 2009 – CellTrustCorporation, a U.S.-based provider of leading-edge secure mobile messaging and applications (www.CellTrust.com) announced its expansion into Australia and New Zealand with the establishment of CellTrust Australia (www.CellTrust.com.au).  The franchisee will operate from its headquarters in Sydney, Australia led by Managing Director Nick Goritsas, marketing veteran and entrepreneur who founded the successful Ontarget Group of companies, which specialise in Data Mining, Direct Mail Marketing and Product Fulfilment.

CellTrust Australia’s customer base will benefit from CellTrust’s award winning SecureSMS Gateway, enabling businesses to exchange critical information with customers using mobile devices in a trusted environment.  SecureSMS has additional advantages over standard SMS, such as delivery, read, and receipt confirmation. CellTrust SecureSMS provides end-to-end privacy on the mobile device via a highly encrypted, tamper-proof process. The sender can see the icons actually change on their phone as messages are sent, received and opened by the recipient. The solution also increases the SMS size limit from 160 characters to 5000. A remote wipe functionality that ensures users can wipe the handset if it is lost or stolen adds another critical layer of security. Additional features that will soon be available on CellTrust SecureSMS will include 2D barcodes, client-less Secure SMS, as well as a dynamic menu system for mobile banking and mobile payments.

“The introduction of 3G mobile technology to the Australian market is driving economic growth and helping to transform businesses and services to communities previously underserved due to the limitations of broadband” said Nick Goritsas, Managing Director, CellTrust Australia. “With the proliferation of mobile data and the exchange of sensitive information across education, healthcare, government and financial sectors, CellTrust’s secure mobile applications and global gateway are well-positioned to meet market demands.” (more…)