http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article4237358.ece By Lilly Peel The Times June 30, 2008 The rising popularity of smartphones such as the BlackBerry and the iPhone will make them targets for viruses and spam, security experts believe. In the past few years the internet has experienced a huge rise in security problems, led by criminal gangs who have used spam and viruses for financial scams. Mobile phones have remained relatively unscathed, but that is set to change as sales of smartphones surge. In the first three months of this year 32.2 million smartphones were sold - 11 per cent of all handset sales and a 29 per cent increase on the same period last year. These e-mail and internet-enabled handsets are moving out of the corporate market into consumers' hands, and the recent launch of the 3G iPhone is expected to fuel sales further. Credit Suisse analysts predict that 275 million smartphones will be sold next year, boosting penetration to 19 per cent and making the mobile world attractive to criminals. Neil Cook, vice-president of technology services for Cloudmark, a messaging security company, estimates that penetration of smartphones needs to reach 20 per cent to 30 per cent before it becomes worthwhile for hackers to spread viruses. Spam is a problem in India and China, and North America and Europe are expected to follow. [...] _______________________________________________ Attend Black Hat USA, August 2-7 in Las Vegas, the world's premier technical event for ICT security experts. Featuring 40 hands-on training courses and 80 Briefings presentations with lots of new content and new tools. Network with 4,000 delegates from 50 nations. Visit product displays by 30 top sponsors in a relaxed setting. http://www.blackhat.comReceived on Mon Jun 30 2008 - 02:25:22 PDT
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