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.

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)

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

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’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.”

It is important to note that standard SMS is not secure and can be spoofed. CellTrust’s Global SMS Gateway also features SecureSMS a tamper-proof process, which enables message sizes up to 5,000 characters versus standard text messages, which allow up to only 160 characters.

“We can assure participants of Mumbubconnect that their information and all conversations with us are completely private, which is crucial when dealing with people’s health issues, and after this initial trial is carried out, further information could be gathered by utilising Celltrust’s two-way SecureSMS platform,” said Nick Goritsas, Managing Director, CellTrust of Australia. “It is exciting that Andre La Porte chose to leverage CellTrust’s technology for QUT to deliver this groundbreaking new service to new mothers in Australia.”

La Porte has spent over two years developing the SMS-based concept for QUT, which incorporated various areas of research into women’s behaviours and use of technology. A preliminary study by QUT of mothers has revealed that women find breastfeeding difficult in the first few months and they are receptive to receiving text messages about breastfeeding, especially if these are linked to a resource where they can access further information. Overall the study found the response to an SMS social marketing campaign was positive. It also found new young mothers in particular use their mobile phone as an essential link to peers, family and friends.

CellTrust’s SecureSMS Appliance is the first global enterprise appliance to offer secure SMS communication for handset to handset and enterprise applications to handsets with highly encrypted end-to-end security in compliance with HIPAA, FISMA, and Sarbanes-Oxley, ensuring that information is kept private and only delivered to the intended recipient. CellTrust’s award winning SecureSMS™ Appliance and Gateway reaches 200+ countries and over 800 carriers.

CellTrust SecureSMS™ Appliance was named winner of many industry awards by CTIA, Mobile Marketing Association, RCR Magazine, MobileTrax, and more.

For details on Mum Bub Connect, visit www.mumbubconnect.com.au

About Mumbubconnect

Mumbubconnect (MBC) is the name of a pilot project currently being conducted by Queensland University of Technology. The mission of MBC is to create better communication connections between mums and official support services (such as government, commercial, community or charity based support); with the belief that better communications will enable better connections between a mum and her baby. MBC aims to test the delivery of tailored SMS text messages and online communications to each new mum participating in the project. For more information, visit www.mumbubconnect.com.au.

About CellTrust Corporation

CellTrust is a leading provider of secure mobile messaging and applications. CellTrust’s patent pending Secure SMS Gateway™ featuring the SecureSMS™ Appliance and a suite of mobile applications provide advanced secure mobile messaging and information management solutions across 200+ countries and over 700 carriers. CellTrust ensures the secure and trusted exchange of information on mobile devices to the financial services, healthcare, government, education, energy, information technology, marketing, and travel, among other global industries. For more information about CellTrust’s Global, African, North American and Australian operations: www.celltrust.com, www.africa.celltrust.com, www.celltrust.com.au.

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.”

CellTrust Australia has been in discussion with numerous enterprises, marketing agencies and governmental organizations in the region. Well-suited for the financial services/banking, healthcare, education  and governmental sectors, prospective Secure SMS users will now be able to optimize the ubiquitous nature of SMS in a secure, reliable and highly confidential environment.

“The Australia/New Zealand corridor will play a key role in our global expansion,” said CellTrust CEO Sean Moshir. “CellTrust looks forward to meeting the mobile security demands of this diverse and very dynamic area of the global mobile market.”

The SecureSMS Gateway manages and exchanges messages via CellTrust’s highly Secure Mobile Information Management platform, giving businesses and government the ability to:

• Set aside concern that carriers, tower operators, infrastructure providers and aggregators can intercept and read their confidential messagesMeet security and compliance requirements without costly development or proprietary server infrastructure investment
• Strengthen customer relationships through a trusted exchange
• Confirm that recipient’s mobile device is able to receive secure SMS messages
• Confirm that text message recipients have received and opened SMS messages
• Use the same set of APIs to send both secure and normal SMS or text messages
• Remotely “wipe” the handset if lost or stolen

Definitively measure Return-on-Investment of mobile device marketing campaigns and their effectiveness
CellTrust has recently been acknowledged by Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC), which has named SecureSMSas a recipient of a 2008 Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award. CellTrust has also been recognized for SecureSMS by the Info Security Products Guide’s Tomorrow Technology Today Award for best messaging security solution. In 2008, the company had been accredited as finalists for Third Annual CTIA Emerging Technology Award, and was named the winner of three Mobile Star Awards, including two gold and one silver for enterprise and consumer software innovation.

About CellTrust Corporation

CellTrust is a leading provider of secure mobile messaging and applications. CellTrust’s patent pending Secure SMS Gateway™ featuring Secure SMS and a suite of mobile applications provide advanced secure mobile messaging and information management solutions across 218 countries and over 700 carriers. CellTrust ensures the secure and trusted exchange of information on mobile devices to the financial services, healthcare, government, education, energy, information technology, marketing, and travel, among other global industries. For more information about CellTrust’s Global, North American and Australian operations:  www.celltrust.com    www.celltrust.com.au

Media Contact

Kirsten Woodard or Yasmin Ezaby
Global Results Comms (GRC) for CellTrust
+1 949-681-8122 or +1 949-502-6760
kwoodard@globalresultspr.com or yezabi@globalresultspr.com

©2009 CellTrust Corporation. All rights reserved. CellTrust, the CellTrust logo, and the CellTrust product names and logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of CellTrust Corporation. In addition, other companies’ names and products mentioned in this document, if any, may be either registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.