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Last Post Date:  22nd July 2008    32   Posts      11   Comments    

Insightful comment on mobile telephony technology and market.

A New Spin on an Old Problem 
22nd July 2008    Current rating: 

It's rather fascinating to think that with the advent of new ways of communication, out goes many people's sense of  "cyber smarts." According to Sophos and other sources cited in this article by Contractor UK, more people are likely to share personal information via the mobile Web, despite exercising good privacy practices on the traditional Web.  Of course, this makes for an ideal scenario for phishers.
 
A sharp rise in attacks has prompted many employers to restrict both traditional and mobile Internet access, especially with contractors. However, applying Internet-appropriate measures to combat mobile vulnerabilities just does not work. Predictably, spammers and phishers are finding ways around these barriers:
 
The level of spam distributed through sites like Facebook, Bebo and LinkedIn is much smaller than traditional e-mail spam, but it is growing fast.
 
 "Spammers are finding themselves increasingly obstructed by corporate anti-spam defences at the email gateway," explained Sophos's senior technology consultant Graham Cluley.
 
 "We're stopping the bad guys getting their marketing message in front of their intended audience. To get around this, spammers are exploiting networks like Facebook to plant spam messages on other peoples' profiles - these don't just get read by the owner of the profile, but anyone else visiting his or her page."
 
 Earlier this year, users of the business networking site LinkedIn were offered a share of a $6.5 million inheritance: all they had to do was provide their banking details so that the money could be transferred. Although the "source" of the cash was supposed to be Cote d'Ivoire, this is a typical example of a "419" scam, named after the relevant section of the Nigerian penal code. The level of spam distributed through sites like Facebook, Bebo and LinkedIn is much smaller than traditional e-mail spam, but it is growing fast.
 
 Of course, reading this begs for an obvious question from us: Why even allow this problem to grow when enterprises can just stop it before it even gets near the network?
 
 

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Dumb Scams for Smartphones 
18th July 2008    Current rating: 

We have all received the emails where a stranger, typically from Nigeria, claims to be contacting you using horribly poor grammar- in efforts to give you some outlandish amount of money. Those are known as ”419 scams”, named for the Nigerian criminal code. You know the types:
 
“Blessings of this day! My name is Mrs Doctor Miriam Abacha. I am 68yrs old,I am married to late Engr.WiltonCollince who worked on oil company in Cote d'I voire. before he retired in the year 2002. He died in the year 2005 after a Cadiac Arteries Operation. We were married for 36 years without a child. And Recently, My Doctor told me that I would not last for the next six months due to my cancer problem (cancer of the lever and stroke). When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum Of $12.4.Million in one of the finance firm here in Abidjan capital of Cote d'Ivoire for safe keeping. Presently this money is still in the Vault of the finance firm.Having known my condition I decided to hand over this money to an individual,Brother or sister that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct herein. I want that you use this money according to the desire of my late.husband to help the Less privilaged,orphanages,and propagating the word of God.”
 
 Sadly, people have fallen for these scams with devastating consequences, but for the most part it is common knowledge that these types of correspondence are best filed in one’s “Trash” email folder.
 
However, as we recently wrote about in a blog post, scams have evolved to target mobile phones. Not only are these SMS-based scams landing in inboxes, they are also infiltrating the inboxes of smartphone users:

  “Customer Services
Head Office
T-Mobile (UK) Ltd
6 Camberwell Way
Doxford Technology Park
Sunderland
SR3 3XN
United Kingdom.

We bring to your notice the winning prize from T-MOBILE ANNIVERSARY
program held on the 22th June,2008 through Internet ballot
System among 20,000 Microsoft users.You are hereby entitled to
£ 500 000 GBP (Five Hundred Thousand Pounds) winning no: 7030
To file for your claim,Please contact our customer services for
validation.

Endeavour to email them the following informations for immediate
processing,

Full Names:
Address:
Sex:
Age:
Country:
Phone no:
Amount Won:
Winning no:

Customer Services, Payment and Release order claim,
T-MOBILE ANNIVERSARY CLAIMS PROCESSING AGENT.
Mr.Smith White
Email:   infodept08@yahoo.com.hk
Tel:     +44-702-404-3448

Congratulations once again from our members of staff and thank you for
being part of our promotional program.

Send us an email When completing our forms please remember to
include your T-Mobile Winning no. to help us assist you with your
winnings.

Ms. Ann Larry

T-Mobile is a registered trademark of Deutsche Telekom AG.” 

It boggles the mind to think that people would consider sending their personal details to a stranger, especially in this case one who claims to be from T-Mobile, yet is using a Yahoo email address. At any rate, while public awareness of these scams increase, we are here to help carriers prevent these types of fraudulent communications from ever reaching consumers.

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100,000 virus a day! 
18th July 2008    Current rating: 

 
Recent analysis of data from AdaptiveMobile’s mobile operator customers suggests that two virus variants - CommWarrior and Beselo – are causing particular damage. While CommWarrior only affects Nokia Series 60 phones, Beselo attacks all smartphones, spreading via Bluetooth and MMS as a Symbian SIS installation file and is growing at four times the rate of CommWarrior.
 
 One major operator, an AdaptiveMobile customer that prefers not to be named, has seen a rise in virus attacks from 0.5 per cent of all messages to six per cent over the last 12 months. On average, this operator receives 100,000 virus incidences a day, up from 70,000 in just one year.
 
 100,000!!! It’s really incredible to see this sharp increase, yet it’s none too surprising because as more and more enterprise organizations adopt smartphones for employee usage, the greater the number of targets for attack.
 
As our own COO, Gareth Maclachlan states, ““Protecting its users should be the first priority for any mobile phone provider. As infection rates continue to rise and higher proportions of customers are left at risk, mobile phone security will become a key differentiator for customer creation and retention – particularly among large organizations keen to ensure their staff are properly protected. The battle is heating up – and mobile operators have to make sure they are competing effectively.”
 
And, as always, we are here with the solution.
 

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It's Really Not Sexty... 
18th July 2008    Current rating: 

Despite the cultural differences each region around the globe has, the one constant commonality is the adoption of technology. And with mobile phones, many countries are especially seeing a tremendous spike in the number of youths who use them.
 
So it really should be no surprise to see an article regarding what’s being dubbed “sexting,” the sending of sexually explicit text or photographs through one's mobile phone to friends or potential suitorspublished about teens in Asia, but referencing situations in Australia.
 
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the phenomenon is so rampant in Australia that it has led to 32 teenagers being charged with offences for child pornography.
 
Or this article referring to US teens engaged in the same behavior. Helen A.S. Popkin, the reporter of this MSNBC story offers this suggestion:
 
The best we can do is teach every sprog circling adolescence how to use both their cell phones and their bodies responsibly as you would with any other tool, such as a car or a chainsaw.
 
We absolutely agree with this. But as we know, not every life lesson children are taught will be taken to heart. For example, despite the best driver’s education in the world, you will still have teens that insist on drag racing. While parents may not be able to always be around while their children are driving, there are police officers on the road monitoring for traffic violations.
 
But unlike driving, mobile phones can be safe-guarded in a way that’s not contingent on the hopes that an authority figure happens along to enforce the rules. Carriers can work with providers like us to empower parents to determine what content is appropriate for their kids’ mobile phones. It’s not a matter of privacy limitation, it’s a matter of safety and responsibility.
 

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Mobile Threats: From Attacks to Advertising 
7th July 2008    Current rating: 

Check out this very insightful and informative Telephony Magazine Podcast featuring our own Gareth Maclachlan, interviewed by Sarah Reedy:

“A Telephony Podcast: Mobile’s virus threat

According to AdaptiveMobile’s studies, between 2007 and 2008 there was a 1,000% increase in mobile viruses, with the average mobile operator cleaning off 100,000 viruses daily from its network. Gareth Maclachlan, CTO of AdaptiveMobile, joins Associate News Editor Sarah Reedy to discuss the implications of the viruses for mobile operators and their customers.”  

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Be careful what you Vish for.... 
7th July 2008    Current rating: 

By now, ”phishing” is old news. Who can forget those poorly-worded emails that appeared to be from financial institutions such as PayPal, requesting the recipient log into their account via a link contained in the email? Well, meet the latest in attack mobile spam- ”vishing”, a combination of voice and phishing: “India, one of the fastest growing mobile markets in the world with over 277 million mobile subscribers according to TRAI, seems to be the green grass the attackers were looking for… a certain Rakshita Kolaskar (obviously, name changed) became a victim of Vishing when she received an SMS on her mobile, announcing that she was the winner of a $3 million prize from Shell International Mobile Draw, to claim which she’d need to dial an international number. She soon realized that she had been duped, after a Shell official confirmed that no such award was given out.”

So this is just one more area in which mobile subscribers need to be careful. Although the same common sense rule of thumb applies here, as with anything else- if it sounds too good to be true or such an offer is communicated by a sender you do not know, then delete it.
 

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Survey Says - BULLY SPAM! 
3rd July 2008    Current rating: 

Now here’s something ironic: Openmind Networks wants people to take a survey on cyberbullying by answering questions via text message. So ultimately some participants will get to pay premium rates and possibly open themselves up to mobile Spam. Brilliant! Trade one concern for another.

 

And speaking of mobile spam, The Independent’s Rhodri Marsden wrote a hilarious piece on an experience with mobile Spam, including some helpful hints on what to do: “So, how to fight back against the more pernicious messages? Firstly, make a fuss. If a premium rate number is advertised, complain to regulator PhonePayPlus on  0800 500 212. Or call your network; a spokesman for 3 advised us of an occasion where they managed to prevent SMS spammers gaining any revenue from a message – that action was as a result of customer complaints. Secondly, don't be tempted to act on its contents. Mark Harris, director of security experts Sophos Labs, makes the indisputable point that if spammers fail to make money from SMS, they'll give up. Oh, and be thankful you're not living in the US where you actually have to pay for the privilege of receiving each of these irksome notes.” Now here’s the ultimate in the combination of cyberbullying and mobile Spam in Australia: Queensland police are warning of a text message scam in which recipients are told they’ll be killed unless they pay $5000. “The text message states:

‘Someone paid me to kill you. If you want me to spare you, I give you 2 days to pay 5000 dollars. If you inform the police or anybody, you will die, I am monitoring you.’”
 
 
 It’s hard to believe that people fall for these types of things, but police in Australia did go as far as to work with Western Union to prevent money transfers to the name indicated in the Spam.
 
Frightening!
 
 

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Seizing Opportunity 
1st July 2008    Current rating: 

As the Times Online reports, popular smartphones such as the iPhone and Blackberry are very quickly becoming popular targets for hackers and spammers:

 

Another attraction for spammers is that mobiles are quickly outgrowing the number of computers. Gartner, the industry analyst, forecasts that there will be four billion mobiles compared with 1.3 billion computers by 2010. Mobile spam is rampant in China, where it is much cheaper to send texts and fewer people have computers, Mr Cook said. Others are more sceptical. Sending 100,000 spam e-mails costs only a few dollars, which is significantly cheaper than texting, Carole Theriault, senior security consultant for Sophos, a computer security company, said.

 

Actually, this last part is soon to be a concern of the past as carriers such as Sprint offer comprehensive, all-inclusive packages that provide both voice and data for low prices. And let’s not forget the attractive nature of unlocked smartphones.

 

 

All of the above are just more factors to consider when asking whether or not mobile security is truly a concern. (Note- we say this last line sarcastically.)

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Mobile Advertising - Hype vs. Potential 
1st July 2008    Current rating: 

There is a lot of hype about mobile advertising and its effectiveness and growth potential but do advertisers and media buyers share this view? How will mobile advertising develop and what will operators need to be successful in this area?

 

Watch our very own Simeon Coney weigh in on mobile advertising during this panel recorded at CommunicAsia 2008!
 

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Smartphone Reality Check 
20th June 2008    Current rating: 

 

 

 

As people begin to focus on the emergence of more and more 3G wireless devices, security concerns are being raised as well. The newest iPhone is the latest call to action for the enterprise community, as reported in Brian Prince’s eWeek article:

Whether IT organizations are ready or not, smart phones are a reality for enterprises. Gartner analysts predicted in a January report that smart-phone sales will reach about 173 million in 2008, a jump of 42 percent from last year. The iPhone 3G, stated to be available July 11, is Apple's latest attempt to capitalize on consumers' desire for Internet-enabled phones with more and more functionality.

It still seems surprising to us that North America continues to view smartphones and the security issues that come with them as something “on the horizon.” And methods of protection that are employed are those of which are better suited for PCs or laptops:

"Data encryption should not require special behavior by the user, such as placing sensitive data in special folders," Dearing said. "Many users of smart phones are technically savvy enough to skirt around IT policies by hard-resetting a device and removing the security software. The low cost of the smart phone also makes it easy for users to replace a standard-issue or lost smart phone with a new device and merely self-configure the device to sync with IT servers."

It’ll be interesting to watch the responses to Brian’s question of whether or not readers feel their organizations do a good job of monitoring smartphone security.

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Sold! 
17th June 2008    Current rating: 

According to the US division of Nielson Research, mobile ecommerce is up with a reported 9 million U.S. mobile subscribers having used their mobile phone to purchase goods or services. In looking at data cited by ePaynews, it’s an area of mobile that has seen tremendous growth worldwide since 2000.

 

But where are consumers actually making these mobile purchases? For some, mobile shopping may conjure up an image of a diehard QVC viewer merely moving from his or her landline to her wireless phone.

 

 

But in reality, mobile ecommerce is extremely innovative. Just look at what a Cisco study reveals::

  Currently, there are three times as many mobile-phone subscribers (3.3 billion) as Internet users (1.3 billion) worldwide. Cisco expects mobile commerce to follow an adoption pattern similar to that of cell phones. Early retail adopters are already finding ways to factor the mobile phone into multichannel service delivery. For the more basic mobile offering, retailers are using SMS (Short Message Service) to communicate promotions, provide a two-way service for customers' questions, and offer item availability and delivery updates. The Cisco IBSG survey found that:

  • 42 percent of retailers provide the ability to view product information on a mobile device through reformatted web pages or specific mobile pages
  • 15 percent offer the ability to conduct transactions (make purchases, complete inventory queries, etc.)
  • 10 percent are using SMS to provide information or answers to customers' questions
  • 6 percent have webpages and a URL specifically designed for mobile use

It’s all very exciting indeed! As this area of commerce continues to rise, so will the conveniences of storing data on mobile sites such as credit card information and other personal details, making it more important than ever that consumers protect their mobile devices.

 

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US Carriers Take a Stand against Illegal Content 
15th June 2008    Current rating: 

Verizon, Time Warner and Sprint are making a strong, bold move in the prevention of illegal online content in the United States:

 

Online forums where thousands of child-porn images have been posted have been stricken from three Internet providers, including two of the nation's five largest, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday.

 

Verizon, Time Warner Cable and Sprint agreed with Cuomo to block access to child pornography disseminated through newsgroups and user groups, a hard-to-regulate sector of the Internet designed to bring together users with like interests.

 

This is a tremendous victory in the ongoing fight to stop easy access to illegal online content- in particular the sexual exploitation of children. But officials involved raised an important issue:

 

When one point of Web access is closed, the same perpetrators are likely to open another. And his agreements with the online services end at the nation's borders.

 

"They are very inventive and obviously a lot of this industry moves offshore very quickly," said Professor Christine Corcos of the Louisiana State University Law Center. "As long as the people who produce this material think they have markets, and they think they can reach that market, they are going to continue and the thing is they can just move to other countries."

 

It is absolutely imperative that other nations join this commitment by enacting similar efforts. Additionally, as the adoption of the mobile Internet continues to grow, mobile carriers need to take these steps as well. Our CEO, Lorcan Burke, weighed in:

 

"This is a real step in the right direction to combat the growing presence of illegal and exploitative child content online. However, it is crucial that these efforts are extended into the mobile environment, which has seen major growth in illegal content globally over the last year, as the number of mobile subscribers accessing the internet via their phones continues to rise rapidly.

 

"The US has taken a critical first step to stop child pornography on the Internet, and we call for service providers worldwide to take a similar approach to eliminate this content on mobile devices as well as PCs. There has been an ongoing discussion about responsibilities between governments and ISPs in recent years in many countries, with ISPs resisting the need to 'police' the Internet with the argument of freedom of expression. However, the story with child pornography is black and white: it is immoral, illegal and needs to be stopped.

 

"Protecting children and stopping the proliferation of this material needs to be a global effort, with service providers at the helm. By not taking mobile into account, however, the industry risks seeing a ‘platform jump:’ in which these sites move onto mobile. We encourage mobile service providers to extend these blocks and to involve groups that have an in-depth knowledge of these threats to children, such as the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). Many adult pornographic sites are already being accessed using mobile technology - I can only hope that this doesn't accelerate the trend to include illegal content by forcing if off of the PC."

 

We at AdaptiveMobile applaud the US carriers’ efforts in taking a strong first step and look forward to the positive results that these efforts will lead to. And as always, we will continue our support of mobile carriers in these areas. 

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Crafty Data 
10th June 2008    Current rating: 

As ZDNet Asia reported recently, Symantec had conducted a survey that revealed some very startling data about mobile security in Asia:

 

Conducted between November 2007 and February 2008, the Web-based survey found that nearly half of the 560 respondents use mobile devices to access corporate e-mail accounts, but fewer than one-third of the enterprises had mobile security policies in place.

 

In addition, 27 percent indicated they did not have mobile antivirus software.

 

Conducted on businesses in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, the survey featured questions on e-mail security, backup and archival. A rating of the "health" of the respondent's corporate e-mail systems would be generated at the end of each completed questionnaire.

 

It is for reasons like this that we are pleased to announce our partnership with Datacraft, the leading independent IT services and solutions company in Asia Pacific. AdaptiveMobile will be supporting Datacraft’s portfolio of mobile security solutions across 13 countries in the region, including India, Japan and Korea.

 

With AdaptiveMobile’s protection against illegal and inappropriate content, mobile viruses and malware, and unsolicited or unauthorized communications, we will see to it that this number decreases in the coming months!

 

Also in further dedication to our supporting this region, our own Simeon Coney, Vice President of Strategic Development at AdaptiveMobile, will be presenting at this year's CommunicAsia, 17 to 20 June, in Singapore. Simeon’s presentation, "Capitalizing on content delivery and personalization," will take place on 18 June at 11:15 a.m.

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R UR TEENS TIRED? 
9th June 2008    Current rating: 

We spend a lot of time educating about predators and productivity when it comes to kids’ use of mobile phones. But what about their health? As Australia’s Daily Telegraph explains, a pair of studies presented at the Sleep 2008 meeting of Associated Sleep Societies indicates that “teenagers who use their mobile phones excessively are more prone to disrupted sleep, stress, fatigue and restlessness.”

 

This all goes back to basic parental guidance. It’s not about controlling kids or “being too strict.” Children need structure and much like encouraging them to brush their teeth and eat their vegetables, parents need to make sure they are getting proper rest.

 

We have been successfully arming parents with the tools they need to ensure that kids’ having a mobile phone remains a privilege and not a detriment. By enabling time-of-day restrictions, parents can prevent all-night texting binges from interfering with much needed rest and development, as well as making sure that kids are focused during the school day. This is an issue parents are dealing with worldwide and we work with carriers across the globe to provide the most flexible, user-friendly solution .   

 

 

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