{"id":368314,"date":"2011-04-05T04:13:11","date_gmt":"2011-04-05T04:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/05\/crime-targets-mobile-and-social-sites\/"},"modified":"2011-04-05T04:13:11","modified_gmt":"2011-04-05T04:13:11","slug":"crime-targets-mobile-and-social-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/05\/crime-targets-mobile-and-social-sites\/","title":{"rendered":"Crime targets mobile and social sites"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div readability=\"127.88916155419\">\n    \t\t  <span><br \/>\n    <span>5 April 2011<\/span><br \/>\n<span>Last updated at <\/span><span>00:13 ET<\/span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Smartphones and social networking sites are likely to become the next big target for cyber criminals, according to a security industry report.<\/p>\n<p>Symantec&#8217;s annual threat analysis warns that the technologies are increasingly being used to spread malicious code.<\/p>\n<p>Users of Facebook, Twitter and Google&#8217;s mobile operating system, Android, are said to be particularly vulnerable.<\/p>\n<p>However, the number of attacks remains small compared to other online crimes such as e-mail phishing.<\/p>\n<p>According to Symantec, known vulnerabilities in mobile operating systems rose from 115 in 2009 to 163 in 2010.<\/p>\n<p>In several cases, the security holes were exploited and used to install harmful software on Android handsets &#8211; suggesting that criminals now view smartphone hacking as a potentially lucrative area .<\/p>\n<p>At least six different varieties of malware were discovered hidden in applications that were distributed through a Chinese download service.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is something we have started to see happen, albeit on a small level,&#8221; said Orla Cox, security operations manager at Symantec.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It allows people to do a variety of things from intercepting SMS messages to dialling toll numbers.  They have opened up the possibility of what is there.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Several pieces of malware were also found on iPhones, however only devices that had been &#8220;jailbroken&#8221; to bypass Apple&#8217;s security were affected.<\/p>\n<p>The company&#8217;s process of pre-vetting all new applications is believed to have spared its devices from a major attack.<\/p>\n<p>  <span>Rogue applications <\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n\t<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/technology-12967254#story_continues_2\">Continue reading the main story<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n<h2>2010 Internet Security Threat Report<\/h2>\n<p>\t\t<!-- pullout-items--><\/p>\n<p>\t<!-- pullout-body--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> 286 million &#8211; number of unique variants of malware detected.<\/li>\n<li> 1 million &#8211; number of zombie computers controlled by Rustock botnet.<\/li>\n<li> 260,000 &#8211; average number of personal identities exposed in each corporate attack.<\/li>\n<li> 6,253 &#8211; number of new software vulnerabilities that could be used by criminals.<\/li>\n<li> 42% &#8211; increase in the number of vulnerabilities on smartphones.<\/li>\n<li> 14 &#8211; number of never-before-seen &#8216;zero day&#8217; vulnerabilities that first turn up in malware.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Source: Symantec<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\t<!-- pullout-links-->\n\t<\/div>\n<p>On Facebook and Twitter, Symantec&#8217;s analysis highlighted several different types of threat.<\/p>\n<p>Among the most prevalent were web links that encourage users to click through to other sites containing malware and rogue applications, designed to collect personal information.<\/p>\n<p>The company estimates that one in six links posted on Facebook pages are connected to malicious software.<\/p>\n<p>User information is said to be particularly valuable in &#8220;social engineering&#8221; attacks, where criminals use knowledge of an individual to trick them into scams that appear to relate to them personally.<\/p>\n<p>The report also raises concerns concerns about shortened URLs, such as <a href=\"http:\/\/tiny.cc\/jumqm\" title=\" BBC technology news\">http:\/\/tiny.cc\/jumqm<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Such systems are widely used to shorten web addresses, but they also make it harder to tell what the target site is. Sixty-five per cent of malware links on social networking websites were found to use shortened URLs.<\/p>\n<p>  <span>Attack toolkits<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Symantec makes its money selling internet security software and services to individuals and corporations<\/p>\n<p>Its annual Internet Security Threat Report &#8211; based on data supplied by users around the world &#8211; is generally regarded as a reliable measure of changing trends in cyber crime.<\/p>\n<p>Globally, the company recorded a 93% increase in the volume of web-based attacks between 2009 and 2010.<\/p>\n<p>The dramatic rise was largely attributed to the widespread availability of &#8220;attack toolkits&#8221; &#8211; software packages that allow users with relatively little skill to design their own malicious software.<\/p>\n<p>Toolkits are available to buy online for as little as a few pounds and as much as several thousand for the latest versions.<\/p>\n<p>The most popular attack kit was Phoenix, which exploits vulnerabilities in the Java programming language &#8211; commonly used for web-based applications.<\/p>\n<p>Symantec&#8217;s report also notes a rise in the number of targeted attacks, where specific companies, organisations or individuals are singled out.<\/p>\n<p>The most sensational targeted attack of 2010 was undoubtedly Stuxnet.  The software worm was designed to take control of mechanical systems used in Iran&#8217;s nuclear plants.<\/p>\n<p>It has been widely speculated that the USA or Israel may have played a role in its creation.<\/p>\n<p>Despite Stuxnet&#8217;s headline-grabbing nature, Orla Cox believes that it may not be indicative of things to come.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was interesting to see that it is possible to attack physical systems.  I think it unlikely that we will see a whole slew of attacks of that nature,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>Visit site:<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/go\/rss\/int\/news\/-\/news\/technology-12967254\" title=\"Crime targets mobile and social sites\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Crime targets mobile and social sites<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> 5 April 2011 Last updated at 00:13 ET Smartphones and social networking sites are likely to become the next big target for cyber criminals, according to a security industry report. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-368314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Crime targets mobile and social sites - 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