Why Smart Phones are Targets: Popularity is Up, Security is Down

Government Computer News - GCN.com
October 20, 2011

Smart phones and tablets will increasingly become targets for malware attacks not only because of their growing popularity but because security steps for the devices are often difficult or ignored, according to a newly released security advisory report out of Georgia Tech.

"Mobile applications are increasingly reliant on the browser," said Patrick Traynor, GTISC researcher and assistant professor at the Georgia Tech School of Computer Science. "As a result, we expect more Web-based attacks against mobile devices to be launched in the coming year."

The Emerging Cyber Threats Report 2012, presented at last week's Georgia Tech Cyber Security Summit 2011, focused specifically on the rise of vulnerabilities from mobile browsers and applications that are reliant on an Internet connection. In one example, researchers discussed that smart phone users aren't as aware as desktop and laptop users when a malicious link is clicked due to the smaller screen size and disappearing address bar.

Another reason the fact that Internet security protocol information is either lacking or hard to access on mobile devices. "If you're a security expert and you want to see the [Secure Sockets Layer] certificates for a site from your mobile phone browser, it is extremely difficult to find that information -- if it's there at all," said Traynor. "And if a security expert can't verify a connection and a certificate, how do we expect the average user to avoid compromise?"

Article Source: http://gcn.com/articles/2011/10/19/ecg-researchers-outline-hurdles-for-mobile-security.aspx