If security experts turn out to be right, and the Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iPhone fulfills its prophecy of marketing greatness, then yes, the iPhone may well be a bulls-eye for hackers. The same market hype and frenzied anticipation for the hot, new Apple iPhone will make the iPhone a prime target for hackers. What could be a greater accomplishment for a hacker than to take down the hottest, apparently secure mobile phone in recent memory?

Neel Mehta, IBM Internet Security Systems spokesman, thinks that “It’s going to be challenging for the bad guys to exploit them like they do other [smart phones] but there will be a lot of individuals willing to try because of the amount of buzz around it… We’ve seen some very determined attacks on other mobile phone platforms, like the Symbian platform. A lot of these attacks are going to be very hard to launch against the iPhone.”

On the upside, Apple has the iPhone’s OS on lockdown, so hackers will have to work long and hard to try and subvert the platform. Without a publicy-available development kit, hackers will have no idea how to write write applications for the iPhone. And, Apple’s history of making their products easily update-able will also help to thwart any security breaches.

So all in all, the iPhone will be a fairly secure platform – requiring a “very sophisticated attack and a very sophisticated attacker to compromise an iPhone.” However, the incredible buzz surrounding the iPhone makes it a prized target for hackers the world over, so there won’t be any shortage of people trying to hack the machine.

[Via: Information Week]

Finally, the real action against the mobile phone virus maker has been taken! Spanish police have arrested a 28-year-old man suspecting that his virus has affected more than 115,000 Symbian OS-based smartphones thus causing millions of euros in damages to both mobile phone owners and mobile service providers.

I’ll only add that the virus CERTAINLY hasn’t affected the latest Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) devices that run Symbian OS version 9.1 or higher (S60 3.0+ and UIQ 3.0+). The new security layer built inside the Symbian OS v9+ simply doesn’t allow such things to happen…

[Via: textually.org]

I’m not aware of any existing virus for Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) Symbian UIQ 3-based smartphones. Yet, the company that develops the popular AVG security software Grisoft announced AVG Mobile Security BETA for the mentioned devices (Sony Ericsson M600, W950 and P990). They want to scare us or what? Symbian v9.x that runs under the UIQ 3 is known for its security, and so far not a single REAL virus have appeared for the platform. I can imagine using the Grisoft’s mobile security software only to protect myself against the SMS spam, but there’s where it ends. Anyway, check out the full release after the jump. Read the full article »

There have been many patches to the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Treo 680’s firmware since its release last year. Now, instead of downloading and individually applying each patch, Palm has released a ROM update that includes all the patches rolled into one new operating system update.

The “Software Update for Palm Treo 680 Smartphone for AT&T (NYSE: T) 1.09″ includes all previous patches and more. The ROM update is only for the AT&T Treo 680, unlocked models should not use this update. Update your AT&T Treo 680 by downloading the update from Palm’s support website.

via: brighthand

Russian anti-virus firm, Kaspersky Labs, has announced the discovery of the first SMS Trojan virus for devices running Series 60 operating systems – called Trojan-SMS.Symb.OS.Viver. This trojan infection will force your Series 60 phone to send SMS text messages to premium SMS services. These services can charge upwards of $10 per text message, which they split with the mobile operator.

Be weary of seemingly useful software that can be easily downloaded and installed. These types of programs are favorite targets for hiding Trojan viruses. As soon as the installation is completed, the Trojan starts sending SMS text messages to the premium services.

The virus seems contained to Russia for the moment, but there’s a high likelihood that the virus will spread. Keep an eye out – that Series 60 device you have in your pocket is a pretty powerful piece of kit, and just like any computer, you gotta watch your back!

via: unwiredview

The Department of Homeland Security has revealed their research into possibly embedding sensors in mobile phones – allowing the lowly cell phone to become part of a network of anti-terrorism sensors. The research is exploring the use of a network of cell phones, equipped with detectors for nuclear isotopes, toxic chemicals, and biological agents, to roam the streets as a kind of grass-roots anti-terrorism squad. Upon detecting a dangerous substance, the built-in GPS unit will poll location data and transmit the location of the cell phone. A single hit will be dismissed as a false-positive, but multiple hits would indicate a legitimate threat

Since 9/11, the government has spent billions of dollars on placing sensors and detectors in airports, subways, borders, and other terrorist target. The problem with this solution is that sensors in fixed locations can only provide late-stage warnings of impending attacks, rather than averting them. A mobile network of sensors can continuously sample the streets and provide early warning of any terrorist activity.

It’s not yet clear if this technology can even be implemented, but it sure sounds cool (if you can get over that whole “Big Brother” aspect).

via: textually

Iran’s Telecommunications Ministry is set to start “filtering” picture, video, and audio messages, by order of The Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution. The Council wants the Telecommunications Ministry to acquire whatever equipment they will need in order to start filtering MMS messages for “immoral” content. There is no mention on how this “filtering” will be accomplished.

Iranian state TV reports, ” … in order to prevent possible misuse of MMS, immoral actions and social problems, the Telecommunications Ministry will filter immoral MMS.” Right, wouldn’t expanding and improving your communications infrastructure be a better use of resources? But, then again, immoral MMS sure is a huge threat these days.

via: yahoonews

With cell phone market penetration growing ever larger, the potential for cell phone based scams is greater than ever. “The Real Hustle” team reveals the “Text Message Trap.” Beware of strangers asking you to use your cell phone to send out a quick text message. You may end up with an expensive subscription to a pay-per-text service you never even heard of. Here’s how it works (video after the break):

Read the full article »

Like the headline says, do NOT use the new encryption feature in Windows Mobile 6.0 to secure your storage card’s data.A blog post on the Windows Mobile Team Blog confirms that, while encrypting your data poses no problems, when the device craps out on you so will the storage card.

Read the full article »

Over at ComputerWorld, Jon Espenschied wrote an intriguing piece about smartphone security. The article is inspired with Jon seeing Sen. Barack Obama using his BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM), and tries to explain the real threats facing the smartphone users.

At the beginning author introduces smartphones, explaining there is a mobile OS that powers-up these devices, which could be mis-used by software developers. Next, Jon explains the stability issues, threat of the mobile malware, network security and then he demystifies message encryption. Smartphone spying and abuse is also among the subjects author covers. Read the full article »