Russian VXers have begun using obnoxious barcode-on-steroids QR codes as a launchpad for mobile malware. A recently identified malicious Quick Response code on a Russian website links through a series of redirections to a site punting a Trojan version of the Jimm mobile ICQ client. . Android users who follow the links and install the application will be infected with a nasty that sends text messages to premium-rate SMS numbers, net security firm Kaspersky warns. Tricking users into scanning QR codes, which can encode URLs into barcode-like squares, to lure them into installing malicious applications on smartphones is a new threat, dubbed "Attaging" (Attack Tagging). Technically speaking whether a user follows a link in a browser or follows a QR code to reach the same location is no different, apart from the fact users might be more trusting about a non-human-readable QR code than a conventional URL. The link for this article located at The Register UK is no longer available. . Android users who follow the links and install the application will be infected with a nasty that se. russian, vxers, begun, using, obnoxious, barcode-on-steroids, codes, launchpad, mobile. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
According to the RSA 2011 Cybercrime Trends Report, the number one trend this year will be mobile device malware and the associated exploitation of mobile smart devices to commit fraud. The explosive growth of mobile smart devices as general purpose . Unfortunately, it is not just consumers and their banks that must consider the risks of mobile device malware; the consumerization of IT has laid the bridge for the crossover of consumer technology into the enterprise. As with all cybercrimes, or crimes in general, it The link for this article located at Network World is no longer available. . Portable gadgets present significant threats to the security of web applications; learn how to protect against viruses and fraud adeptly.. Mobile Device Risks, Malware Protection, Cybercrime Trends. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
Apple fans are often smug about their immunity to virus attacks on their Macs and iPhones. Well, these devices are hardly safe from viruses, worms, or other attacks, but it's true that they're more secure than Windows PCs. A recent report from antivirus vendor Intego shows how few attacks made their way into the iPhone and Mac worlds last year.. Except for jailbroken iPhones and iPod Touches -- the mobile devices, ironically, aimed at more sophisticated users who are typically better at erecting security safeguards than the rank-and-file consumer. It turns out, jailbreaking an iPhone -- so you can use a different carrier and run apps that Apple has not approved in its App Store -- disables about 80 percent of the Phone's built-in security features, as hacker Charlie Miller reported at the SyScan security conference. Yikes! And hackers are taking full advantage, Intego reports. A jailbroken iPhone is usually made accessible through an SSH (secure shell) Unix command, which can be invoked over the air, not just when the iPhone is tethered -- part of the jailbreaking process usually involves installing the OpenSSH utility. But few people who jailbreak their iPhones bothered to change the default password, and hackers quickly learned they could scan ports to find OpenSSH and log in to install nefarious software. (For the record, Intego notes that not all networks allow such access; those that use NAT, for example, prevent this kind of phishing.) The link for this article located at InfoWorld is no longer available. . Unauthorized iPhones carry serious security threats; factory SSH configurations can enable malware uploads by cybercriminals.. Jailbroken Devices, Mobile Malware, User Awareness, SSH Exploitation, iPhone Security. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
T security and data protection firm Sophos is warning that a new virus attacking the users of jailbroken iPhones is the most serious to date, since it makes infected iPhones into zombies, joining them to a botnet.. Two weeks ago the first ever iPhone virus appeared, changing infected victim's wallpaper to an image of 1980s pop star Rick Astley. However, aside from gobbling up bandwidth and Rickrolling iPhones it had no additional criminal intentions. Sophos reports that over the weekend, a new iPhone worm (informally called "Duh" or "Ikee.B" by security researchers) was reported spreading in the wild in The Netherlands, designed to upload banking information to a server in Lithuania and to follow orders from remote hackers. The "Duh" worm hunts for vulnerable iPhones on a wider range of IP ranges than Ikee, which was only ever reported in Australia. "Duh" includes IP ranges in several countries, including The Netherlands, Portugal, Australia, Austria, and Hungary. The link for this article located at Sophos is no longer available. . A recent notice from Sophos highlights a critical malware threat aimed at modified iPhones, co-opting them into a network of botnets for the purpose of stealing sensitive information.. Jailbroken iPhones, Mobile Malware, Bank Info Theft, Botnet Threats. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
The first ever computer virus that can infect mobile phones has been discovered, anti-virus software developers said today, adding that up until now it has had no harmful effect. The French unit of the Russian security software developer Kaspersky Labs said that that virus - called Cabir - appears to have been developed by an international group specialising in creating viruses which try to show "that no technology is reliable and safe from their attacks". . . .. The first ever computer virus that can infect mobile phones has been discovered, anti-virus software developers said today, adding that up until now it has had no harmful effect. The French unit of the Russian security software developer Kaspersky Labs said that that virus - called Cabir - appears to have been developed by an international group specialising in creating viruses which try to show "that no technology is reliable and safe from their attacks". Cabir infects the Symbian operating system that is used in several makes of mobiles, notably the Nokia brand, and propagates through the new bluetooth wireless technology that is in several new mobile phones. If the virus succeeds in penetrating the phone, it writes the inscription 'Caribe' on the screen and is then activated every time that the phone is turned on. The link for this article located at news.com.au is no longer available. . The worm known as Zafi primarily infects Windows systems, compromising PCs and proliferating through email attachments.. Mobile Malware, Cabir Virus, Bluetooth Security, Symbian Threat. . Anthony Pell
Get the latest Linux and open source security news straight to your inbox.