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“Smartphones are essentially becoming regular computers … they run the same class of operating systems as desktop and laptop computers, so they are just as vulnerable to attack by malicious,” said Vinod Ganapathy, assistant professor of computer science in the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences, in a Rutgers press release.
Since 2006, attacks on cell phones have become more common. The first attacks on cell phones came in the form of multimedia messages. After the user’s phone received the message, the cell phone would continually process the information and drain the battery 20 times faster than regular use. While cell phones have become more advanced, the types of attacks have also become more sophisticated.
Ganapathy and his team worked on a specific type of nefarious malware dubbed “rootkits.” Unlike computer viruses, rootkits attack the heart of a computer’s software, the operating system.
Rootkits can only be detected through a program known as a “virtual machine monitor,” which examines every operating system operation and data structure. An anti-virus scan would be unable to detect this specific type of malware.
Combating rootkits on smartphones is impossible since smartphones lack a virtual machine monitor program due to processing constraints. The program simply demands too much processing resources and energy that a portable phone could currently support.
Rootkits can be dangerous for the user. Not only could the assailant eavesdrop on conversations and extract personal information from phone directories, they could even keep track of a user’s whereabouts by querying the phones’ Global Positioning System receiver.
In Europe and Asia, rootkits could even gain access to a user’s finances. With mobile phones that can make payments like a credit card, a rootkit could potentially make the phone issue “reverse SMS” orders, which would direct payments to the assailant.
Currently, rootkits can be spread through an online website or Bluetooth. A benign Bluetooth worm has already been discovered in Singapore. Security specialists speculate that it was simply a test of the efficiency and effectiveness of the infection mechanism and that a major virus might be in the works.
While there isn’t much that users can do currently to protect themselves from attacks, it is advisable to visit only credible websites and delete text messages from unknown senders.
Source: http://www.theticker.org/about/2.8220/smart-phone-under-threat-of-attacks-1.2174454
