[ISN] Smartphone botnets? New report predicts mobile devices will be part of DDoS attacks

From: InfoSec News <alerts_at_private>
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 00:01:01 -0600 (CST)
http://www.csoonline.com/article/646713/smartphone-botnets-new-report-predicts-mobile-devices-will-be-part-of-ddos-attacks

By Joan Goodchild
Senior Editor
CSO
December 14, 2010 

Smartphones could soon be used to launch distributed attacks, much like 
traditional PCs are now used as parts of larger botnet networks, 
according to a new report from ENISA, the European Network and 
Information Security Agency. In research that details the many risks of 
smartphones, the findings claim that while the devices are not currently 
being targeted for such attacks, this may change as mobile devices are 
becoming more popular, more connected and the complexity and the number 
of vulnerabilities in these platforms is increasing.

Smartphone botnets could be used for familiar crimes such as spam, click 
fraud and DDoS, the report claims. Since smartphones interface with 
cellular networks, they could also be used for new distributed attack 
scenarios; such as SMS spam and DDoS on telephony networks. Such attacks 
could be used to support wider attacks on, for example, other 
infrastructure.

"Mobile phone coverage is becoming increasingly vital, especially in the 
event of an emergency, so smartphones open up new possibilities for DDoS 
attacks with potentially serious impacts," according to the findings.

In an example, the report cites an example of a 2001 virus that impacted 
DoCoMo, a Japanese mobile operator. The 'i-mode virus' had access to 
call interfaces, which were available to malicious emails at the time 
and caused the user's device to dial emergency numbers.

[...]


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Received on Tue Dec 14 2010 - 22:01:01 PST

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