Simon Cable explains the ins and outs of securing mobile phones.

It was only a matter of time before the virus writers started to exploit the mobile platforms and recently these viruses have become more malicious and started to present higher levels of risk for business and personal users.

The challenge presented today is multi-faceted, primarily because our mobile devices are increasingly powerful and are performing so many additional tasks. There are now over 300 pieces of malware that infect mobile devices, some of which can infect PCs or servers as well. They are spreading around by every means possible; SMS, MMS, Bluetooth, WAP, Wi-Fi, email, images, video clips, Instant Messaging and Voice over IP, are all known to be used by mobile viruses to spread.

It is important to tighten up on network defences and implement software to protect all types of messaging systems. Once a company device is infected with a piece of mobile malware confidential information may no longer be safe. Data integrity and compliance may also be compromised.

One of the current leaders in the mobile security field commissioned some market research and the results were slightly worrying. Symantec found that in Germany, on average, only 33 percent of men and 65 percent of women with smart phones claimed to be using any sort of security. However, 90 percent of those interviewed stored personal information like email addresses and phone numbers in their smart phone, 25 percent stored passwords on their phone and 20 percent even stored PIN numbers and credit card information!

In the UK a separate survey, also commissioned by Symantec, revealed that only 50 percent of users were concerned that their smart phone might be the target of hackers.

What should you do to protect your mobile phone?

Protecting your devices against attacks from hackers is possible and there are some basic things that everyone should be doing…

1 . Deactivate functions such as Bluetooth, Wireless LAN, and infrared when they are not in use. At the very least the phone should be set as ‘invisible’ under normal circumstances, so that it is less easily recognised by would-be hackers

2. It goes almost without saying that files from unknown sources received by any means (Bluetooth/MMS/SMS etc) should neither be opened nor installed, e.g. telephone numbers or links attached to short messages from unknown senders. The same applies here as with the home PC. Great care must be taken with unsolicited emails from unfamiliar sources

3. You should only download material from sources which you trust and which, as far as possible, are safeguarded by signatures

4. The decisive factor as far as security is concerned is of course having the proper programmes and security functions in place. These include virus scanners and firewalls which ensure protection when the user is surfing the net or checking emails and their attachments. In particular, anti-virus software is essential when the mobile telephone is being synchronised with a PC.

There is a good choice of mobile security solutions available from all of the leading security vendors today. It is essential that customers have a firewall in place to protect devices from unwanted probes or attacks, irrespective of their source or the method they are using. Scanning and checking incoming messages and files to ensure cleanliness from viruses and malicious or unwanted SMS messages is also essential.

The first company to release a solution to these emerging threats was a Finnish anti-virus firm called F-Secure. They were the first to develop software to protect both Symbian and Windows Mobile devices and they remain a market leader in this field today.

The larger anti-virus firms have more recently been able to develop and put to market a very good solution which also ticks all the required boxes.