Analyst: Mobile Security Is A Top Priority
By Susan Rush
June 16, 2004
news@2 direct
With yesterday's detection of a virus that could worm its way onto smartphones, security has once again come to the forefront of people's minds. While the appearance of a virus on a handset is something of an inevitability, the wireless industry views security as a top concern, according to one industry analyst.
"Mobile security is one of the fastest growing sectors in the wireless space and it is a priority for everybody, from operators to device manufacturers to silicon vendors to the mobile software and middleware vendors," Yankee Group analyst John Jackson tells news@2. "It is an area that gets tons of attention."
While it is a concern for those mired in the wireless sector, the average wireless user is another matter. Concerns over worm attacks on personal computers have become commonplace, but yesterday's announcement that a "concept virus" had been discovered most likely brought the notion a little closer to home for wireless users. The worm, dubbed Cabir, was detected by security software developer Kaspersky Labs. The company says the worm is designed to propagate via mobile networks and infect smartphones running the Symbian OS -- although other operating systems could be affected by the virus.
The virus was created by a group that specializes in the creation of proof-of-concept viruses. The good news about the virus is that it only runs on a phone if the user enables the file to be launched. Thus far, there are no reports that the virus has infected a live user.
As wireless phones become more advanced to support more applications, code density in mobile handsets increases exponentially, so there is a threat there, according to Jackson. "It is safe to say that the appearance of a virus on a handset is an inevitability," he says. "There are people out there that mean unwell, but there really hasn't been a high-profile case here, which is often what it takes to catch the public's interest." Jackson does say it is too early to predict whether viruses will be a wireless data killer, but says collectively as an industry that "we have an opportunity here to preempt some of the misfortune that has struck the PC industry in terms of viruses," he says.
...I swear she enjoys doing this....It just makes the adrenaline rush in her blood when she beats us to the post
