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by nycScribbler, 14 May 2008
Mobile networks and phones are the new target for cyber crime. In 2008 alone, about ten new mobile viruses and trojans have been unleashed.We all know that viruses, trojans, and spam target our PCs. These programs started with the intention of being a nuisance to PC users, but that quickly changed to an even more malicious intent with creators designing software to make profit. After 15 years of this lucrative and nasty business, mobile networks are finally becoming the new target. In places like India and China, mobile networks are being flooded with new mobile viruses and trojans, mainly because people in these regions are inexperienced when it comes to malware.
Hi-tech criminals have learned lessons from their attacks on PCs and they are now applying them to the mobile world. Simeon Coney, head of business development at Adaptive Mobile, is surprised that it's taken this long for the evolution to occur because almost everything that a mobile user does costs money. Most importantly, once a phone number has been procured, it is consistently reachable. In contrast to PCs, mobile networks are an easy target. At least with filters on e-mail accounts or the use of firewalls, PCs can be protected. Still, the numbers of malware in the mobile sphere are far less than that of PCs, where only 400 variants of malware have been detected, in comparison with 700,000 for PCs. Luckily, for most people in the Western hemisphere, they have learned their own lessons from viruses and spam affecting their PCs, making them unlikely to fall for mobile scams.
The vulnerability of a mobile phone is its use of Internet access, e-mail use, and texting – making this the perfect platform for reaching a massive number of people.
To prevent this from happening, individuals should download ONLY from trusted parties, and should NOT sign up for things which require a phone number.
Limit the exposure of posting mobile numbers on Web sites when signing up for services.
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