As we lead more and more connected lives, we’ve come to expect to be able to get online pretty much anywhere. With the latest generation of web capable mobile phones and wireless PDAs, it’s possible to walk around with the internet in your pocket. Sadly, along with the benefits of getting access to information at your fingertips come the disadvantages associated with connectivity. As laptops and handheld devices enable us to have portable computing, we also get portable viruses, spyware and Trojans.
Any device that’s able to execute code is vulnerable to virus attack. If it’s also got the means to connect to the internet, it can be used to propagate viruses and other malware. Add in the fact that most people also carry sensitive information around on phones and PDAs and you have a security nightmare waiting to happen. Portable devices are easy to steal and if they provide access to information that could enable someone to steal your identity or access any of your accounts, they’re far more valuable than the cost of the devices themselves.
Any security risk that could threaten your desktop PC is just as likely to threaten a laptop. Phones and PDAs lag behind PCs in the number of attacks that they sustain, but while many people don’t think about security considerations relating to these devices, hackers are going to increasingly target them.
There are a good number of viruses that have been specifically written to exploit SmartPhones and palmtop computers. It’s therefore a good idea to invest in an antivirus for your device. On a laptop you can use the free AVG antivirus, which you can get at www.free.grisoft.com, but you’ll need something a little more specialised for smaller computers and phones. F-Secure produces a mobile version of its antivirus for SmartPhones and PDAs running Windows for Pocket PC or Windows CE. It costs £24.95 for a single licence including a year of updates. See http://www.f-secure.co.uk/home_user/buyonline/avmobile.html for more details and information on which devices are covered. The short walkthroughs demonstrate how to scan your phone for viruses and how to update the mobile Anti-Virus.
Viruses are just one part of mobile security. Bear in mind that Trojans, spyware and even diallers could be developed to take advantage of SmartPhones. Antispyware software for mobiles isn’t yet a mature technology, because security software is reactive by its nature. Therefore your best bet to avoid these emerging threats is to remain vigilant and be very careful what content you open on phones and PDAs and be wary about the software that you install. Avoid unnecessary applications and always buy games and other content from reputable suppliers.
If other devices can connect to your phone then it’s vulnerable to hackers. Even if there isn’t any juicy data stored on your device that might be of interest, its connectivity is desirable in itself. If connected to a wireless network, your mobile could be used as a relay to help disguise the location of the hacker. It could also be pressed into service as a zombie to forward spam or other data when it is connected to the net.
The key to securing a portable device like a SmartPhone is in thinking of it as a computer. Any threat that could exploit your PC could also be modified to work on a phone. You therefore need to take the same kinds of precautions to protect it. In addition to running an antivirus, consider installing a firewall, especially if your phone is used online a lot. Consider the ways that your phone can send and receive data. If it has an infrared connection make sure it’s disabled when not in use. Do the same for wireless and Bluetooth connections. Where you are using such connections, ensure that you apply whatever security features your device supports, be it encryption or password protection. Think about what might make your mobile attractive to hackers and head them off.
As most mobile browsers support full web page access, they’re just as vulnerable to being abused by unsafe sites and data harvesting methods. Consider blocking cookies if you don’t log into services and need to be remembered. These could be used to track your online activities. It’s also a good idea to avoid storing passwords for web services on your mobile. Should it go missing, you could be losing more than just the phone.
Other data harvesting techniques such as phishing are just as effective when applied to mobile devices as they are on computers. Treat emails appearing to come from financial organisations or other services requiring you to sign in with suspicion. Avoid following links in emails, use your favourites or enter the web page directly. This may be fiddly if you’re using a phone, but a little
Hotspot Security
Make sure that your security is highest when logging into a hot spot.
Hotspots are very convenient places that enable you to go online with minimum fuss using a laptop, PDA or mobile phone. You can find hotspots as open networks; the security is applied after you connect to the network, enabling the provider to charge you and limit internet access. However this means that your laptop or PDA may be vulnerable when connected because other hotspot users may be able to access your device.
To ensure that no one can take advantage of this vulnerability, make sure that you have a firewall installed that can set up your wireless adapter as an internet device and not one connected to the local network. On a laptop, your best bet is probably the free Comodo firewall, which we featured in last issue’s complete guide. You can get it from http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com.
It’s also a good idea to make sure that you have no shared resources on your laptop. If your firewall failed these would be visible to all as network places and, depending on your settings, your files could be read, modified or deleted. Shared folders have a little hand underneath the folder icon in Windows XP or earlier. This shows as a small icon depicting two users in Windows Vista. To unshared a shared folder in Windows XP, right click it and choose Sharing and Security and clear the box marked Share this folder on the network. Click OK to confirm In Vista, right click the folder and choose Share, Stop Sharing.
Comodo Firewall helps prevent other hotspot users connecting to your laptop.
Scanning a SmartPhone
Use F-Secure Mobile Antivirus to scan for viruses
1
To start the antivirus choose Start, Anti-Virus if you’re using a smartphone, otherwise opt for Start, Programs, Antivirus under Pocket PC. To start a manual scan, if you’re not already prompted to run one, choose Scan All
2
The program examines each file on your portable device. You can click Cancel at any time to stop the scan. If an infected file is found, you’ll see a message. Click Yes to see more detail about the infection.
3
If your phone of PDA has a virus infection, you’ll find it in the infections view. You can opt to quarantine or delete infected files. If you think the file has been flagged by mistake, you can opt to release it. Rescan to ensure that there are no more infections.
0 comments:
Post a Comment