Common mobile viruses:Mobile Security Threat

How they spread and what are the effects:

Cabir: When this virus infects  your mobile then  message 'Caribe' will be displayed  at each  time you switch off and  on the mobile. These worms are generally  spread through blue tooth signals from surroundings  mobiles. 

Duts: A parasitic  file infector virus .its alos  known as Pocket PC. It try to infect all EXE files which are more than 4kb present in the directory where it saved. 

Skulls:  it is a Trojan horse. Means a piece of code will be  downloaded  on your mobile nad then the virus called Skull replaces your phone desktop into  image of skull as icon.it is very dangerous as  It is usually  transferred with all phone applications and also with SMS and MMS. 

Comm warrior: It's also spread through MMS  and  unsecured blue tooth  to other devices. It has more impact on devices running under OS Symbian Series 60. This virus launches The executable worm file and the worm  hunt for gaining access to your blue tooth devices and sends the infected files under various different  name to various random device.

Read More

Mobile Security:How you will know your mobile is being tracked??

.HOW IT IS DONE

cell phone image by sonya etchison from Fotolia.com

 Mobile phones are always being tracked by the cell phone company. And it  is a necessity for provide you the facility to make  and receive phone calls.Mobile service provider can simply pinpoint the location where your mobile is by measuring the strength or weakness of the signal relative to there mobile towers.[sintuhack]. And With the help of  this, you can be traeced  within a few hundred feet. But what if your phone is tarcked by other than your service provider.[sintuhack].

Yes my friend , in this technical its world its possible that your phone are being traced by any other person/company (similarly like it is done in Hollywood movies). There are a lot of service provider for this types of spying on the internet.[sintuhack].

If you would like to know whether your phone is being tracked by someone other than the phone company there are a few signs on which you must pay attention.[sintuhack]

Points to ponder

Check to see if your phone is still warm in between phone calls. It  is normal for phones to heat up during a call, but they will usually cool down within 30 minutes after one. If your phone is still warm even when it has not been used in hours then it could still be transmitting, which is an indicator that it could be bugged.[sintuhack]

Check to see if your phone is interfering with the radio even when it is turned off. A cell phone bug will transmit your location at all times even when the phone is turned off. While it is normal for a phone to interfere with a radio when it is receiving or making a call, it is not normal if this happens when it is turned off.[sintuhack]

Check for signs that your battery is draining faster the normally. If the phone is bugged, you will notice that it drains much quicker than it would normally. This is because it is constantly transmitting even when it is off.[sintuhack]

Oberservation:

Pay  close attention on  these signs. if  one or two of them  are present then it may be possible that someone has bugged your phone, but  all three sign together ensures that there is a good chance that someone using some technology to track you.[sintuhack]

Solution:

The only way to keep from being tracked is to either remove the battery from your phone or to get the phone wiped clean at a phone shop and have them reinstall the operating system.[sintuhack]

Read More

Mobile security:Tips for using Bluetooth Securely

All  deficiencies(described in previuos post )  leave a Bluetooth device vulnerable to security threats. Even though security gaps are being filled every day by the manufacturer and technologist, Following are some of the tips that a normal user can keep in mind and protect himself from an amateur BlueTooth  security breacher.[sintuhack]

• Keep BlueTooth   in the disabled state, enable it only when needed and disable immediately after the intended task is completed.[sintuhack]
• Keep the device in non-discoverable (hidden) mode,[sintuhack]
• DO NOT accept any unknown and unexpected request for pairing your device.[sintuhack]
• 
  
• Use non regular patterns as PIN keys while pairing a device. Use those key combinations which are non sequential, non obvious on the keypad.[sintuhack]
• Keep a check of all paired devices in the past from time to time and delete any paired device which you are not sure about.[sintuhack]
• Register your device at the Manufacturer site and insure that security updates are installed regularly to protect from previously know threat which had been rectified in new models.[sintuhack]
• Always enable encryption when establishing Bluetooth connection to your PC.[sintuhack]

Above Bluetooth Security Tips should make your Bluetooth experience trouble free. Good Luck…!!! And that’s the end of chapter on bluetooth.[sintuhack].

Read More

Bluetooth Security Risks:MOBILE SECURITY

Bluetooth Security Risks
1. The first step in using any Bluetooth device is to turn on the Bluetooth feature in it. The default state of Bluetooth in any device is “Off” mode. 
2. Once Bluetooth is turned on, it is in active but dormant state. In order to use it, it needs to be put in to “Discoverable” state. In theory when a device is in “non discoverable” state it should not be visible to other devices but in reality the device is still discoverable to those devices it has made a connection before using MAC address. A hacker seeing the Blue LED can use Brute Force address discovery process to record the MAC address and hack the device using software such as RedFang.


3. During communication process also Bluetooth technology exposes itself to security breach as the address itself is not encrypted although the message may be encrypted. Technique such as frequency hogging provides some protection but is not completely secure.
4. There are devices available in the market which can capture a Bluetooth signal from the air and analyze. At present cost is prohibitive for casual hackers to acquire some of these devices but still a professional hacker can use those devices and hack vital information.
5. Many owners leave the Bluetooth device in the discoverable mode after actual use due to ignorance or simply forget to turn off “discoverable” mode which gives hackers easy opportunity to pair with their device and hack.
6. Pairing two Bluetooth devices usually does not require any authentication, however using a service like file transfer or data/video/voice exchange require some authentication by entering PIN. Once PINs are entered a link key is generated and stored in the device’s memory. This process is not required for next time onwards.
7. Many vendors do not implement authentication and authorization process correctly allowing hackers to steal information or use one’s phone or use it for making calls or SMS.

Read More

BLuebugging:Can Breach YOUR Mobile Security

BLuebugging was somewhat like bluesnarfing but the difference is that it is more harmful to your mobile from the prospective of security of your mobile. It was first invented in 2004 by German scientist. In the initial phase, it was necessary to pair devices via Bluetooth before the security breacher  try to breach your mobile with the bugger, but now a days its not needed to pair up the devices.[sintuhack]. It can also possible to break you mobile security via the Bluetooth enabled headset which is used to take call as per to free your hands.[sintuhack]

At early stage it was done with laptop but now a days such powerful PDA and mobile phones are available  in the market that it can be done without laptops .[sintuhack]. you may be happy that your mobile Bluetooth has only a small range so its not easy to pair up your device hence you mobile is secured. But did you know that in market antenna’s are available which can send and receive weak signal s and hence data can be transferred from range of even 200 meters.[sintuhack]

Read More

Bluesnarfing:Mobile Security Breach

Bluesnarfing refers to a the method in which one has gained access to data, which is stored on a Bluetooth enabled phone of other people. Literally Bluesnarfing can be described as unauthorized access of information from a wireless device through a Bluetooth connection. The level of access depends from case to case, but, in general, it involves pretty much anything that's stored on the user's mobile device. Bluesnarfing allows the using person to make phone calls, send and receive text messages, read and write phonebook contacts, eavesdrop on phone conversations, and connect to the Internet. he can also download the material in his mobile from the victim mobile. The good news is, bluesnarfing requires advanced equipment and much advanace expertise In this field. As bluejacking can be done at the range of 10 meters, in bluesnarfing the intruder must be present within a 30 ft. range. If the phone is in non-discoverable mode, then its not true that you cant be a victim of this. Its adds only some problem and makes it little bit more difficult for intruders to bluesnarf your phone. It can be possible from phone and laptop both to bluesnarf a mobile. By just using some bluesnarfing tools (Bluesnarfer, Blooover) on mobile phone or laptop, anyone can detect and access those vulnerable mobile phones to view and download entire phonebook, calendar, real time clock, business card and other important private data without alerting the phone owner(you).

There's little info on whether Bluesnarfing is possible without the targeted phone being paired with the computer running the aforementioned software application, but anyone cannot completely rule out this possibility, either.

So that’s all about bluesnarfing. Wait till next post to know about other mobile security breach methods………….

Read More