Security articles

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Sprint launches Mobile Security program

Sep 19 2006 - 11:47 PM ET | Security, Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel has introduced a new service dubbed Mobile Security that aims to help companies keep mobile data secure. Since most mobile devices only come with limited security features, a lost or stolen smartphone can be a major security risk...

BlackBerry security exploit released to public

Aug 14 2006 - 03:29 PM ET | Research In Motion, Security
A security consultant who made a presentation about insecurities of the BlackBerry platform at an annual hacking conference has released his code to the public. Dubbed 'BlackBerry Attack Toolkit' the software demonstrates how code on a BlackBerry could theoretically pose...

McAfee launches Mobile Security suite

Feb 13 2006 - 12:00 AM ET | 3GSM, Backpage, Security
3GSM 2006 -- McAfee has launched a new security suite built exclusively for mobile phones. The consumer side of the McAfee Mobile Security (there is also software for network operators and enterprise users) is an application that is available for...

Nokia to bundle F-Secure on select devices

Feb 10 2006 - 06:10 AM ET | Backpage, Nokia, Security
Nokia announced that F-Secure Mobile Anti-Virus will ship on several of its business oriented phones. The software will be on the memory card bundled with the N71 and will be in the catalog on the E60, E61 and E70...

Symantec warns of three new Symbian trojans

Jan 20 2006 - 04:20 PM ET | Backpage, Security, Smartphone
Symantec has issued an alert over three new trojan horse applications for Symbian powered phones. These will affect Nokia's S60 line of smartphones. The trojans are being called: SymbOS.Bootton.E, SymbOS.Pbstealer.D and SymbOS.Sendtool.A. To be affected you will have to...

BlackBerry email gains PGP encryption

Oct 10 2005 - 01:59 PM ET | Research In Motion, Security
Research In Motion today announced that BlackBerry email will soon gain the ability to be secured by PGP. While there will be an extra cost associated with the service, PGP provides sender-to-recipient email security in the form of high-grade public...

New Symbian virus can infect Windows too

Sep 22 2005 - 12:02 PM ET | Security
F-Secure, a mobile security firm, has detected a virus for Symbian called SymbOS/Cardtrap.A that has the unique twist of also infecting PCs. The Cardtrap.A installs Windows worms Win32/Padobot.Z and Win32/Rays to the phone memory card so that if you connect...

Verizon Wireless fixes security breach

Aug 12 2005 - 01:00 PM ET | Security, Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless announced today that is has fixed a bug in its website that made public some data from customers signed up with online billing. According to the Wall Street Journal [paid sub req] the error only allowed limited information...

McAfee expects more mobile business

Aug 02 2005 - 06:40 PM ET | Security
McAfee, the second largest security software maker, is on record saying that several deals are in the works with mobile device makers. McAfee president Gene Hodges noted at the RBC Capital Markets conference that, "We see several deals in the...

Symantec posts Mobile Security beta

Mar 19 2005 - 01:49 PM ET | Security
Security firm Symantec has posted a public beta of Mobile Security for Symbian. The software aims to secure Symbian from malware. Additionally, Symantec Mobile Security functions as a software firewall. Symbian users can download the application from Symantec's website for...

Mobile face recognition

Mar 01 2005 - 03:01 PM ET | Camera, Security
Omron yesterday announced OKOA, software for camera phones that enables face recognition security. The phone must have a OKOA Vision Face Recognition Sensor to be compatible. Here's how OKOA works: bq. To use the unit, the user simply takes his...

T-Mobile USA addresses security issues

Feb 26 2005 - 01:10 AM ET | Security, T-Mobile
T-Mobile has made an official announcement on procedures customers can take to secure their data. This announcement was spurred by the recent spat of well publicized hacks made against T-Mobile. The full press release from T-Mobile is available below....

Fred Durst's T-Mobile account hacked

Feb 25 2005 - 12:21 PM ET | Security, T-Mobile
Update: T-Mobile has contacted MobileTracker to let us know that Fred Durst is not a T-Mobile customer. It would appear this release used the T-Mobile name to gain extra publicity. Fred Durst's T-Mobile account fell victim to the same attacker...

How Paris Hilton got hacked

Feb 22 2005 - 11:34 PM ET | Danger, Security, T-Mobile
After Paris Hilton's Sidekick contents (address book, pictures and notes) were posted on the internet the other day, the million dollar question was: "How did this happen?" Many pundits hinted that Paris actually made the leak herself to gain more...

Paris Hilton's Sidekick hacked

Feb 20 2005 - 08:30 PM ET | Danger, Security, T-Mobile
Update: Here's how Paris Hilton's Sidekick was hacked Nearly all the data from Paris Hilton's T-Mobile Sidekick was posted online. A hacker group that calls itself DFNCTSC has taken the credit and the FBI is investigating. Rumors are going around...

Cabir makes it to US

Feb 18 2005 - 10:49 PM ET | Security
Reuters is reporting that mobile phone virus Cabir has been detected in the US. MobileTracker first noted this virus back in June 2004 and again in December 2004 when its source code was posted online. bq. The biggest impact of...

T-Mobile hacker pleads guilty

Feb 16 2005 - 09:54 PM ET | Security, T-Mobile
Back in January it came to light that T-Mobile USA was the victim of a hacker. The suspect, Nicholas Lee Jacobsen, pleaded guilty today at a court appearance in California. Mr. Jacobsen will be sentanced in May. He faces a...

Interview with Aaron Davidson, CEO of SimWorks

Feb 08 2005 - 01:45 AM ET | Industry Q&A's, Security
By Jon Gales -- MobileTracker recently traded emails with Aaron Davidson, CEO of SimWorks. SimWorks is a security firm that makes software for the Symbian platform and SyncML. Since news of malware on Symbian is only getting more frequent (see...

Gavno.a virus disables calls on Symbian phones

Jan 24 2005 - 02:58 PM ET | Security
Symbian security firm SimWorks has sounded the warning for a new mobile phone virus, Gavno.a. Gavno.a is the first mobile virus to cause serious damage--Gavno leaves Symbian 7 handsets unable to make calls. bq. The threat, Gavno.a is spread via...

T-Mobile USA penetrated by hacker

Jan 12 2005 - 12:41 PM ET | Security, T-Mobile
T-Mobile USA found itself a victim of data theft--serious data theft. Among the data taken from T-Mobile's servers: * US Secret Service e-mail * Customers' passwords and Social Security numbers * Photos taken by Sidekick users, including photos from many...

Cabir source code posted online

Dec 28 2004 - 05:30 PM ET | Security
Get ready for a lot of similar mobile phone viruses--the source code for Cabir has been posted online on a message board. Virus writing group 29A was responsible for the virus and is also responsible for the source code leak:...

Virus: METAL Gear.a for Series 60

Dec 21 2004 - 05:40 PM ET | Security
Another new security notice for Series 60 owners--avoid a file claiming to be the game Metal Gear Solid with the file name METAL Gear.sis. According to security firm SimWorks, the virus looks for and then disables anti virus software: bq....

Skulls mobile trojan learns Bluetooth

Dec 03 2004 - 12:13 PM ET | Bluetooth, Security
The Skulls trojan horse we warned you about last month didn't do much since users had to install it themselves (that's why it's called a trojan). However there is now a new version out being called Skulls.B Worm that travels...

Nokia Communicator now ships with antivirus

Nov 22 2004 - 12:13 PM ET | Security
FB-4 today announced that its Symbian based Virus Guard will be included on all Nokia Communicator 9300 and 9500 devices sold in North America. Virus Guard is Symbian certified, and is also available on Series 60 and UIQ Symbian devices....

Skulls trojan on Symbian

Nov 19 2004 - 12:03 PM ET | Security
There is a new malicious trojan horse going around that affects Symbian powered phones. According to security firm F-Secure, Skulls: "Is a SIS file that will replace the system applications with non-functional versions, so that all but the phone functionality...

SH901iC announced by NTT DoCoMo

Nov 17 2004 - 03:45 PM ET | 3G, DoCoMo, Security
NTT DoCoMo has announced the SH901iC, one phone from the upcoming 901i Series. The 901i series is marked by 3D surround sound, i-appli games and FeliCa smart-card technology. The SH901iC is well equipped: * 2.2" CGS screen with 260K colors...

PC trojan sending SMS spam

Nov 09 2004 - 02:31 PM ET | SMS, Security
Computer experts are talking about a new Windows based trojan horse that sends spam messages to mobile phones through SMS. The Delf-HA Trojan downloads a spam campaign from the internet and then sends it to random mobile phones numbers in...

Symantec looks to cell phones

Nov 04 2004 - 03:10 PM ET | Security
According to PC World, Symantec is looking to cell phones as the next great security software market. As the number of cell phones grows, as does the sophistication, Symantec believes there will be a market for security software. Symantec is...

Trojan horse on Series 60 phones

Aug 13 2004 - 03:26 PM ET | Nokia, Security
Sophos, an anti-virus maker, has warned of a trojan horse for Nokia Series 60 smartphones. The virus is dubbed Mosqit-A and appears to be a hacked version of the Mosquitos game. Instead of simply being a hacked game, the application...

First Bluetooth virus, Series 60 affected

Jun 15 2004 - 12:48 PM ET | Bluetooth, Security
Symantec warns of a worm for Series 60 mobile phones that transmits itself through Bluetooth. It's just a proof-of-concept (doesn't do any damage), but it's a scary concept: bq. The worm spreads as a .SIS file, which is automatically installed...