Malware permeated the mobile ecosystem in 2011. The issue is not going away either. Smartphones have an unprecedented amount of personal data that malicious hackers are drooling to obtain. Everyday they are coming up with more sophisticated attacks and scheming ways on how to infiltrate that data trove in your pocket.
Juniper's Mobile Threats Report for 2011 shows that malware increased in 2011 by 155%. Most of that increase was found with Android vulnerabilities though the entire mobile ecosystem is vulnerable to security breaches. 46.7% of all threats that Juniper analyzed in 2011 were Android, ahead of 41% for Java ME. While Juniper does not have stats for Apple's iOS, it does say that there are dangers that could harm your iPhone as well.
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. People, especially Internet users, are either happily coupled up and doing something lovey-dovey, or they're hunting around on dating sites for their soulmate. Because, you know, true love only happens on the Internet. Unfortunately for some, there's danger in online dating.
"Cyber criminals are constantly looking for that common interest to capitalize on and in this case it's love," said Molly O'Hearn, Vice President of Operations at Iovation. "Just like in the face-to-face world, if something seems too good to be true it probably is."
The biggest geeks in all of technology work in IT security. Sorry front-end mobile developers, cloud gurus, data center managers and do-it-yourself robot builders. Enterprise IT security is run by geeks who love to play cat and mouse with a good botnet, argue over the merits of Blue Coat versus AnchorFree and have a panic button programmed on their highly encrypted smartphones that goes straight to Symantec's headquarters. These are the geek's geeks.
In honor of yesterday's Safer Internet Day, we present a tribute to the IT security folks that keep most of us running during the day and from drowning in a sea of spam and malware. We know the "$#!& people say" meme is a little played out, but we feel that's mostly because there have been some really mediocre entries into the genre recently. The video below is sure to leave you giggling if you belong to the geeky group of IT security experts. Check it out.
Here at ReadWriteWeb, we encourage safer Internet use. We try to bring you the stories that help you navigate the World Wide Interwebs.
So we wanted to make sure you know that today is Safer Internet Day, and it's meant especially for children and young people. Past Safer Internet Day themes have focused on cyberbullying and social networking. This year's very apropos topic is "connecting generations." How do we make sure everyone on the Internet - from young kids to grandparents - feel safe?
Safer Internet Day began as an initiative of the EU SafeBorders project in 2004. Today more than 70 countries worldwide on six of the seven continents participate. Take a look at the map after the jump.
Google is taking new steps to identify and eliminate malware in the Android Market. Codenamed "Bouncer," Google will now scan every new and existing app in the Market against known malware, permissions and publisher information. This is the first time that Google has been so proactive in attacking the Android malware problem and a welcome step for its application ecosystem.
Google will institute Bouncer without disrupting the Android user experience or requiring an Apple-like approval process. The tactic that Google is using focuses on the cloud and identifying malware as opposed to checking each app's credentials at the door. Furthermore, Google said that Android malware is actually decreasing, contrary to prior reports.
Legal firm Loeb & Loeb is full of thinkers. Its clients and attorneys know that the world is a fluid place and the technology sector dynamic and ever-changing. As part of its "Media MindShare" series, Loeb & Loeb has turned its attention to the digital marketplace to study what the dominant issues will be in 2012.
One of those issues is mobile commerce. That includes mobile payments and coupons as well as the security issues that inevitably will accompany the mobile commerce vertical. Are people really prepared to pay with their phones? What is holding them back? Check out the infographic from Loeb & Loeb below.
Noticed some Facebook downtime? We have. It's intermittent, but Facebook has some trouble with uptime right now, and a Twitter account representing Anonymous claims responsibility (somewhat obliquely, in order to troll tech bloggers).
In some kind of conflation of Facebook with the government, a puppet representing Anonymous threatened Facebook with an attack in retaliation for SOPA/PIPA (though other Anonymous sources denied involvement). That was scheduled for three days from now. The organization has declared war against Facebook in the past, but Facebook is no ordinary target. It's the cream of the crop. It's practically never down. Has Anonymous finally cracked it?
Facebook scammers are spreading a vicious rumor on walls everywhere.
The headline reads: "[video] Chuck Norris dies at age 71! Not a Joke," and is accompanied by a video of the star. You may remember Norris from such films as "The Karate Kid" and "Karate Kommandos," and the CBS series "Walker, Texas Ranger." The Naked Security blog reports that this is in fact another Facebook scam, and that Chuck Norris is still alive. What's the deal behind this spam attack?
After yesterday's dramatic, international sting operation, the people behind Megaupload are in custody, their Web empire and fancy cars having been seized by authorities. Founder Kim Dotcom and his associates are charged with piracy on a massive scale, among other things.
As for Megaupload.com, the site is inaccessible, perhaps indefinitely. That's a bummer for the millions of people who used it to share copyrighted albums, movies and software. It's an even bigger let down for users who used the service to store personal files, sometimes without a backup.
We all know the relative truth that there is no such thing as malware that can strike iOS devices. Malware breeds in incestuous pits of the Internet with botnets and spammers lurking around every URL or third-party app store. Oh, but never on your iPhone. Malware is as synonymous with the Internet as search, chat or porn. Yet, when browsing with you Mac or iDevice, there is still a fair likelihood that you will run into a malware stricken site that could potentially do you harm.
AnchorFree, makers of the powerful Hotspot Shield application, are adding a new function to its offering today. When browsing the Web, Hotspot Shield will now alert users when a site they visit contains malware. It may seem a trivial update to for the malware-invincible iOS but there is more danger than meets the eye.
