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Mobile Security

About 60 percent of cell phone users wish to use advanced features. Let’s take a look at how secure their devices are and how software solution providers are coming up with solutions to secure these devices. By Chirasrota Jena

The number of smart phone users is increasing at a rapid pace in India. Therefore we have seen quite a number of virus infections on mobile devices in India as well as in other parts of the world including most of Asia and certain countries in Europe. Mobile security is at a nascent stage in India. Using mobile devices to access corporate network is more convenient than carrying notebooks around. Almost 50 million people in India use smart phones and about two million people are joining this club every month. The mobile phone is turning into a computer. This makes it susceptible to precisely the same vulnerabilities as a PC like viruses, spam and spyware. While the increasing number of mobile device users has given rise to a market for third-party applications such as games and other mobile applications, it has also opened up the proverbial can of worms. However, out of the 72 million phones in use, only a small fraction are sophisticated enough to be at risk.

About 60 percent of phone users like to use advanced features on their phones. Although it is difficult to estimate the worth of the mobile security market in India, its potential is on the rise. The market for high-end mobile phones is booming and security is a function of this boom. The global market for secure content management was $59.24 million in 2005 and is expected to grow to $513.93 million by 2008. Several security software companies have released packages for enterprise users of smartphones are PDAs. As the capabilities of smart phones increase, it is more important than ever for enterprises to protect themselves from the growing security threats that these devices can pose. For the first time, mobile operators now have a way to offer their enterprise customers centrally managed protection for smart phones against malicious mobile code such as SMS spam and viruses. 

Targeting the source and destination of attack

"Security needs to be addressed by taking the origin of attack into consideration. The attacks are generally cited either in the context of the database of the service provider or traffic on the Internet" - Prasad Babu Director SE and Operations, Juniper Networks

With the growing usage of handheld devices such as smartphones, PDAs and notebooks, security is a major concern. Mobile security solution providers are developing their solutions keeping in mind the source of attack. Explains Prasad Babu, Director SE and Operations, Juniper Networks, “Security needs to be addressed by taking the origin of attack into consideration. The attacks are generally cited either in the context of the database of the service provider or traffic on the Internet.” He further added that Juniper Networks has developed solutions like Intrusion Prevention System, Firewalls and GPP protocol for GPRS applications.

Though vendors in the mobile content security area are offering solutions for fighting spam, malware and viruses, a few players are providing encryption online for online transactions. Informs Kartik Shahani, Director Sales India & SAARC, McAfee, “Though solutions by McAfee are for protecting the user from malware on handsets there is currently no specific solution that deals with online trading security like encryption and online authentication. McAfee’s approach to mobile security is basically takes the end user’s handset protection into consideration by having an agent which scans incoming and outgoing communication. The handset has two modes of communication—the operator network for voice, data, SMS, e-mail and MMS and the other mode is through the IR (Infrared) port, Bluetooth and USB.” McAfee has solutions that can be directly utilised by the end user and could also be solutions that may be provided to operators. Another complete set of operations through the operator provides the desired security levels. This suite of products falls under the ‘Clean Pipe Strategy’.

Aventail’s Mobile solutions include two options—WorkPlace Mobile and Connect Mobile. While WorkPlace Mobile is ideal for unmanaged devices, the Connect Mobile solution is designed for managed mobile devices. Ajay Kumar, the Country Manager, Aventail, “WorkPlace Mobile is a customised portal allowing easy, clientless access to Web-based applications from virtually any mobile device. It is ideal for unmanaged devices, because access is handled through a portal.  Administrators can set up mobile access and non-mobile access easily and quickly for portal based access from any device browser, all accessible from a single URL. Connect Mobile is a lightweight, easy to install agent that provides Windows Mobile PDA users with broad access to both Web and client-server applications.” The Connect Mobile agent is deployed over the Web, giving the option of deploying it on-demand or as a persistent agent. It provides a proxy connection to an application and doesn’t provide a direct connection to the network.

Another feature designed especially for mobile phones is to block SMS spam that allows an approved sender list, restricts a blocked sender list, and has the ability to block SMS messages lacking a mobile telephone number. Mobile users may also initiate manual scans. Niraj Kaushik, Country Head, India and SAARC, Trend Micro, informs, “With Rapid virus pattern updates, mobile devices can receive updated pattern files via GPRS or by synchronising with an anti-virus pattern file update downloaded onto a local PC. Trend Micro Mobile Security protects devices running systems including Windows Mobile 2003 for Smartphone, Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC Phone Edition, and Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0. Mobile viruses such as Cabir and Commwarrior can spread via Bluetooth. Commwarrior can also spread via multimedia messaging systems.” Most mobile phone viruses target handsets that use the Symbian operating system. Infection can be avoided by turning off Bluetooth on a smartphone.

How secure is your mobile device

Mobile devices are increasingly coming under attack from viruses. Mobile handsets with Wi-Fi cards are prone to these attacks as they connect to a public network and, at the same time the organisation’s network. Other services on mobile phones that might make them vulnerable include the ability to open e-mail attachments and removable storage cards. Due to the rising popularity of data-centric mobile phones and personal digital assistant (PDAs), these devices could become an attractive target for virus writers in the future. Aventail is providing a certificate in mobile devices, which uniquely identifies a device, when the device is lost, the sysadmin can revoke that certificate rather than revoking the user’s credentials. Access from the lost device is disabled and the user can continue to work from other devices. Kumar elaborates, “Aventail Smart Access dynamically deploys the appropriate access method depending on what device is being used, requiring no extra work for the admin or user. We provide a mobile solution with secure, remote access, ease of use and management, broad application reach and a centralised policy model which the present day smartphone users need.”

Ericsson and Trend Micro offer a solution to defend against the evolving malware threat. Trend Micro has introduced Trend Micro Mobile Security (TMMS) version 2.0, providing anti-virus and SMS anti-spam protection for data-centric wireless mobile devices such as PDAs and smartphones. Pattern files can be provided over the air, enabling rapid updates as new threats emerge. It provides centralised management and provisioning controlled from a Web-based console allowing administrators to access all client devices and manage, update, and automate processes against threats. The anti-virus also provides centralised reports that identify device OS platform, scan engine, and virus pattern versions. McAfee has developed anti-virus software for smart cell phones, and is working on firewalls to prevent unauthorised access. McAfee is working on an anti-virus engine for mobile phones, in an effort to head off the threat of malicious code on increasingly advanced wireless devices.

Strategies for securing mobile devices

Vendors are providing solutions for different kinds of attacks. Some are offering solutions for end point devices while others have offerings for the traffic or the way in which data flows from source to destination. There are other players with solutions to secure the corporate networks and some have only anti-virus solutions. Another player in the mobile security segment, F-Secure provides anti-virus and firewall solutions for mobile devices. This ensures that no trojan or key logger can steal your credentials and that a hacker can’t gain access to your device over the Internet. Patrik Runald, Senior Security Specialist, F-Secure Security Labs, Kuala Lumpur, informs, “We’re working with mobile operators to provide security as a service to the end-user instead of selling the products in a boxed format. By providing security as a service the operators can make security as part of the contract or offer it as a value added service to their users.”

To address this market, solution providers are working on various strategies. Juniper Network has tied up with Ericsson to provide solutions. It is working on a two pronged strategy in which Juniper either directly approaches customers or works closely with its partners to tap the market. The company is also offering training programmes for service providers across the country. There are two methods of delivering a solution to market—directly or indirectly. The first entails providing the solution through a direct purchase and thereby updating it through the Internet. The second way is to provide the solution through an operator on a subscription basis. Trend Micro has recently entered into a global agreement with Ericsson to offer Trend Micro Mobile Security within the Ericsson Mobile Device Anti-virus solution. Ericsson will incorporate Trend Micro Mobile Security into Ericsson Mobile Device Anti-virus as part of its Mobile Data Solutions portfolio, offered to enterprises and mobile operators interested in providing additional security measures to protect their end users from the growing threat of mobile malware. Says Kumar, “Aventail’s SSL VPN enables multiple policy zone based on device type, security of the end point and user identity.  Aventail will continue to work with its many end point control technology partners to add other functionality for its mobile solution. We are working with various cell phone manufacturers to provide our solutions.”

However McAfee is deploying McAfee virusScan Mobile technology integrated in DoCoMo handsets. The deployment spans across six handset manufacturer brands and ten handset models, with more coming in the months ahead. Says Shahani, “Each operator has a unique network and setup for which the solution needs to be customised. The operations and implementation is not a trivial issue, the rollout and support are a complex combination of business justification and technical possibilities. Keeping in mind the need of the customers and the types of attacks like at database, traffic and operating system we are continuously working on to provide latest security solutions.”