Windows XP

Posted by SmsMyCustomers FSecure on 24/Aug/2011 in Security Alert Log | Comments Off

Let’s compare the major computer operating systems at the moment. We have Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. We have various Linux distributions. And we have Mac OS X.

Of these, obviously Windows XP has the weakest security, by far. And Windows XP has the biggest marketshare, too. Globally close to half of all computers still run XP. And today, Windows XP is ten years old. Ten years is an eternity in this business. So it’s no wonder XP’s security architecture is not up to date.

As a result, attackers right now would be stupid* o spend their time and money targetting any other operating system. That makes no sense as long as they have this huge, easy low hanging fruit. Obviously XP is going away.

And Why Would this Bother Mobile Phone Users?

Ever plugged your phone in to your computer to do a file synch, an update or to transfer files? How about hooking your phone up to your homes XP Wi-Fi network? Think about it.

As we can see from this chart, Windows 7 will pass in XP in the near future and will become the most common operating system.

And when XP’s marketshare drops low enough, attackers need to start looking around. Some will focus on Windows 7. Others will look at OS X, Android, iOS and so on. The attackers have never had it so good. The easiest target is also the most common target. This can’t change quick enough.

Do a good deed today. Uninstall an installation of XP.

Mobile malware to steal photos from your phone

Posted by SmsMyCustomers FSecure on 16/Aug/2011 in Security Alert Log, Trojans | Comments Off

A good deal of this year’s mobile malware was developed in China. And Chinese mobile malware tends to include stuff such as backdoors, password stealers and spy tools.

Knowing that Chinese malware likes to spy, we’ve been keeping an eye out for various functions, such as photo scraping. Stealing photos from a phone could be used for harassment and blackmailing.

We didn’t have to look for long. A member our Threat Response team just found something interesting in a Symbian malware sample.

Here are our analyst’s notes

The code of Trojan:SymbOS/Spinilog.A (md5: b346043b4efb1e9834a87dce44d6d433) includes a class named CMyCameraEngine which inherits and implements the Symbian class MCameraObserver. This enables the trojan to receive control when an image has been captured with the camera. Spinilog.A then encodes the raw bitmap to a JPG, which it saves to the phone’s memory. This feature seems to still be unused and possibly incomplete as the constructor of the CMyCameraEngine class is not called in the code. Other data stolen by the trojan is more traditional such as the content and details of SMS and e-mail messages, phone call details and calendar and contact information.

So while this particular backdoor won’t yet steal your photos, it’s clear which direction we’re headed to.

$3B in Mobile Payments for PayPal This Year But Bigger Prize at Stake

Posted by admin on 24/Jun/2011 in In The News | 0 comments

PayPal’s mobile payments business is now expected to do $3 billion in volume this year, double what the company predicted last fall, and up from $2 billion forecasted in April.

PayPal said it’s seeing $10 million a day in total mobile payment volume, up from $6 million in March. That’s a huge ramp-up and suggests PayPal is finding success in facilitating online payments through mobile phones, which is an extension of its existing business. But it doesn’t address where PayPal needs to go in the future: mobile payments for offline goods. Offline, real-world payments are a much bigger opportunity, representing more than 90 percent of current transactions. That’s where PayPal is looking to shift, but right now, the bulk of its business is still online.

Read Full Article On Gigaom.com

CellTrust Corp. Launches Secure Mobile Government Division To Receptive Audience in Singapore

Posted by admin on 14/Oct/2009 in Press Releases | 0 comments

Governments Around the World are Securing the SMS Channel.

Scottsdale, Arizona, USA and Singapore – October 14, 2009 – CellTrust Corporation, the world’s largest provider of SecureSMS for mobile phones (www.celltrust.com), announced today the launch of its Secure Mobile Government Division with a dedicated team of Governmental IT professionals and mobile security experts based at CellTrust headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA.

CellTrust’s Secure Mobile Government Division is comprised of seasoned IT professionals with decades of experience in governmental agency information data management. Along with CellTrust’s mobile security experts, they have engineered a suite of Secure Mobile Government Information Management applications designed to meet the stringent security and mobility needs of governmental agencies around the globe. The CellTrust SecureSMS™ Appliance connects to the CellTrust SecureSMS Gateway providing secure mobile information management to over 700 carriers in 200+ countries.

“We’ve experienced a global shift this year in demand from governmental agencies as they exploit the ubiquitous nature of SMS,” said Sean Moshir, CEO and Chairman of CellTrust. “After twenty years of providing Internet security for governmental agencies it is a logical step for the CellTrust team to pave the way for secure mobile government.”

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Understanding the Spreading Patterns of Mobile Phone Viruses

Posted by admin on 10/May/2009 in Security Alert Log | 5 comments

The April 2009 issue of Sciencexpress has tabled a research paper with the title of Understanding the Spreading Patterns of Mobile Phone Viruses.

The paper was written by Pu Wang, Marta C. González, César A. Hidalgo and Albert-László Barabási. (more…)

Battle Global Warming with your Mobile Phone

Posted by admin on 10/Sep/2007 in Security Alert Log | 0 comments

We all contribute to the global warming problem. But CellTrust’s FlightAssist subscribers now have an effective way to become part of the solution. Using carbon reduction and offsetting options from Carbonfund.org makes it possible for every traveler – with just a mobile phone – to “clean up” their itinerary.

“Doing something about climate change means reducing the carbon dioxide emissions every one of us generates every day – when we drive our cars, heat or cool our houses, watch TV, or take an airplane,” states Steve Offutt, COO at Carbonfund.org. “After you have taken responsibility and reduced your emissions as much as you can, one of the best actions to take as a next step is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions equal to your carbon emissions – with carbon offsetting.

(more…)