Malicious programs targeting smartphones and tablets
By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 26 April 2011, 23:11 IST
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Bangalore: It was only a few days back that we were made aware of the Trojan attack on Blackberry phones, now researchers have revealed that smartphones and tablets are nowhere spared from malicious programs. Malicious programs have been identified in seemingly harmless apps, like games and video players that could make Android phones send information and receive commands without the owners' knowledge. McAfee said the smartphone malware that they detected last year targeted the Symbian operating software used by Nokia. According to Internet security firm Kaspersky, Android became a playground for malware creators. They recognized 70 different types of malware last month. However, Google has initiated a number of protection systems.For example, Android's design includes a "sandboxing" feature that prevents individual applications from reading or changing information in other applications. When user downloads an Android app, they get a message which prompts for the user's permission to access other services or software on the device. Lyle Frink, the spokesperson for Avast, an antivirus software company, said that instances of malware targeting Smartphones and tablet PC devices were on the rise every single day. It poses a threat for businesses, as employees continue to flock to these devices. Symantec, McAfee and several other software companies sell mobile antivirus software with features that allow consumers to back up their data, locate a missing phone and lock or "wipe" personal data if the device gets lost or stolen. But even though the most popular smartphone operating systems may be less vulnerable than PCs, experts say the growing popularity of mobile gadgets means malicious coders will inevitably target them more often in the future.

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