Spy software for mobile to become more broadly obtainable

By Dave Nixon

Spying programs for mobile phones are expected to develop in sophistication according to a top mobile analyst.
Lots of the spy programs on the market are potent, but aren’t very refined code, said Jarno Niemela, a senior anti-virus researchers for Finnish security vendor F-Secure, speaking at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas.
But [...]

New industry standards reached with release of AirDefense Enterprise 7.3

By Janine de Blois

Wireless security experts, AirDefense, has launched “AirDefense Enterprise 7.3”, featuring the industry’s first software only Spectrum Analysis. Used to examine 2.4 and 5GHz frequencies, it gives IT administrators a cost effective remote means of monitoring trouble spots by identifying possible non-802.11 sources of interference. It also features an updated Advanced Forensics tool that [...]

InfoJack trojan Infects mobile devices running Windows CE

By Janine de Blois

InfoJack disables Windows Mobile application installation security. It sends the infected device’s serial number, operating system, and other information to the author of the Trojan.
Infected devices are then subject to further malware as it automatically downloads and installs unsigned applications without user knowledge. It also changes the homepage.
It has widely been distributed [...]

VPN Travels from LAN to 3G

By Dave Nixon

US communications developer Smith Micro has asserted at the Mobile World Congress that it is able to supply persistent secure sessions connecting mobile devices and enterprise applications, regardless of the client device moveing from one category of connection to another.
The company said this signifies that a user may perhaps connect via the office LAN [...]

iPhone predicted to be major hacking target

By Brian Turner

Security predictions released today by Arbor Networks reveals that the iPhone will be a major target for cybercriminals in 2008. The forecast also highlights Chinese specific crime as a major issue for the New Year.
Arbor’s Security and Engineering Response Team (ASERT), who have put together the forecasts, believe that the iPhone will become the [...]

McAfee announces ‘McAfee OK’ programme

By Janet Harris

McAfee Inc. has announced the McAfee OK program - which inspects and certifies content on mobile phones.
The program is designed for mobile content aggregators and network operators. It inspect ringer tones, images, video, applications and other mobile content, and certifies that it does not contain any malicious or inappropriate material.
McAfee OK is based on McAfee’s [...]

Biometrics authentication for Wi-Fi from Shimon Systems

By Janet Harris

Shimon Systems of California, US, has developed Bio-NetGuard - a biometrics package designed to make it easy for smaller businesses to secure their Wi-Fi networks, without the need to call in specialists.
According to Simon Systems, many Wi-Fi networks are misconfigured and smaller businesses rarely apply 802.1x authentication.
Bio-NetGuard, a small standalone device, includes a Radius server [...]

Check Point Acquires Protect Data

By Brian Turner

Check Point Software is planning to acquire Protect Data, the owner of Pointsec Mobile Technologies.
Subject to approval by regulators and shareholders, it is anticipated that the acquisition will be completed in January. The acquisition continues the current trend for consolidation in the IT security industry.
Check Point develops virtual private network (VPN), firewall and management tools [...]

Serious Cell Phone Vulnerability Detected

By Brian Turner

Wilfried Hafner, the CEO of SecurStar GmbH, has developed a Trojan horse, named “RexSpy”, which seriously jeopardises cell phone security. The Trojan, which was developed solely for demonstration purposes, is transferred by sending an invisible and unnoticeable SMS message to a cell phone. When the Trojan invades the system, the security vulnerabilities show the [...]

Security Flaw Found in Broadcom Wi-Fi Driver

By Brian Turner

Researcher HD Moore, from the Month of Kernel Bugs project has warned that a flaw in the widely-used Broadcom BCMWL5.SYS driver may leave Windows computers open to a stack-based buffer overflow that could allow kernel-mode execution of malicious code.
An advisory released by the volunteer Zeroday Emergency Response Team (ZERT) warned that although the bug isn’t [...]

Safend Improves Mobile Security Software

By Brian Turner

IT security company, Safend, has made three improvements to its Safend Protector software - a client/server application for setting and enforcing security policies on the use of USB and CD-ROM drives and other removable storage media on laptops and other devices.
The latest version - Version 3.1 - includes data encryption, network bridging management and key [...]

Tests Confirm Security of Codian’s Video Conferencing Products

By Brian Turner

Codian Ltd, the manufacturer of video conferencing infrastructure products, has announced that its MCU 4200 and IP VCR 2200 range has been approved by West Coast Labs.
Tests confirmed that the firewall functionality of the products provided effective protection against probes, malware and other hacking attacks.
According to the press release, the MCU 4200 is the most [...]

Apple’s wireless drivers hacked

By Brian Turner

Proof-of-concept code has been posted for a vulnerability in Apple’s wireless drivers. The code, which was posted by security researcher HD Moore, exploits a flaw in the Proxim Wireless Orinoco wireless cards used by PowerBooks and iMacs built between 1999 and 2003.
According to Apple, the issue only affects a small percentage of previous generation [...]

Cisco warns on unsafe remote access

By Brian Turner

Cisco have warned on the security of remote access workers, after a study they commissioned into the habits of remote workers found unsafe networking practices were rife.
Common insecure activities included:

sharing work computers with non-employees,
opening unknown e-mails
hijacking neighbors’ wireless networks

This was despite the fact that the majority of the workers in the survey considered themselves very [...]