Latest Podcast



Featured Articles

Ofcom says mobile contracts should ditch inflation-related price rises

Ofcom says mobile contracts should ditch inflation-related price rises

UK telecoms regulator Ofcom wants to ban inflation-related rises in phone and broadband contracts. Instead, it says any potential mid-contract price rises should be set out in pounds and pence.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Global smartphone market is set for recovery, says new forecast

A new forecast from research specialists Canalys shows the smartphone market is set to recover next year. Worldwide shipments declined by 12% last year but that decline is expected to slow to 5% this year.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

New Hutchison/Vodafone network would be biggest UK operator

Vodafone Group plc and CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings Limited have agreed to combine their UK telecommunication businesses, respectively Vodafone UK and Three UK. The merger will create a large new network operator to compete with Virgin Media O2 and EE.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

UK mobile payment service Paym to close in March 2023

UK mobile payment service Paym will close on 7th March 2023. The service, which allowed users to make and receive payments using their mobile phone numbers, was launched in 2014.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Which? seeks payout for Samsung and Apple smartphone owners

Consumer protection organisation Which? has been given permission by the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal to represent Apple and Samsung smartphone buyers in a legal case against chip manufacturer Qualcomm.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS

Opinion Articles

Friday, October 7, 2011

Mobile crime and mobile security at Over The Air

Mark Bridge writes:

Much of Bletchley Park’s history involves code-breaking and intercepting radio messages so - when Over The Air 2011 brought hundreds of mobile developers to the site - it seemed appropriate to explore the subject of mobile phone security.

In particular, there were a couple of sessions on the agenda that caught my eye. Detective Sergeant Andy Williams of the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit started by talking about stolen phones... and asking if mobile applications could help with this problem.

With nearly 10% of all crime across the United Kingdom involving the theft of a mobile handset, it’s a serious problem for the police and for the mobile industry.

Andy suggested that applications could help before a phone was stolen, perhaps by reminding an owner to register their IMEI with immobilise.com, and apps could also help after a loss or theft by securing the user’s personal data and helping find the device.

However, he admitted that many of the issues surrounding phone theft aren’t technology related. Giving a child a high-value iPhone has the potential of making them a target for thieves, warned Andy, who said “We need a bit of parental responsibility sometimes to say to youngsters: No, you can’t have this.”

But that doesn’t mean phone crime is all about the physical device.

“More often than not, particularly when we’re talking about organised criminals, the value of data on a handset is just as valuable - potentially - as the device itself”, he explained. “Organised gangs will interrogate phones for data that people have left on them, to consider things like identity theft, taking over people’s accounts, fraudulently using that data to commit other types of crimes.”

It’ll be interesting to see how developers respond to Andy’s call.


Following Andy Williams was Craig Heath, co-founder of information security business Franklin Heath. His topic was ‘Mobile Application Security and Mobile Security Applications’, a piece of wordplay that intrigued me.

“My basic message was: I think a lot of developers see security on mobile phones as a hindrance to them”, Craig said. “They have to, for example, purchase a signing certificate, they have to submit their applications for QA, going through app stores and so on. I wanted people to understand that it’s not for no purpose. We are seeing attacks using applications on phones that are making significant amounts of money for organised criminals”.

As well as covering the security challenges faced by mobile application developers, Craig also talked about using security-focussed applications to help consumers stay in control of their device and their information.

I asked Craig why the mobile industry didn’t seem as concerned about security software as PC manufacturers were.

“We’re starting with mobile phones from a better position than was the case for PCs. Having seen what had happened with PCs, and recognising that mobile phones are going to be able to access a lot of personal information about people, security was designed in to these platforms early on. The virus pandemic that a lot of people were predicting for mobile never happened because certain ‘friction points’ that happen in the delivery of an application to a device mean it’s much harder for these things to propagate than it is on a PC. You don’t get the same ‘infection vectors’ that you get on PCs.”

Craig says mobile fraud is on the increase but it’s often crime such as ‘phishing’, which involves a consumer inadvertently giving their data away or choosing to install a rogue app. As a result, conventional anti-virus software is ineffective - but it’s possible to create other app-based solutions that would help consumers control their phones and, at worst, minimise their losses.

Once again, it’s mobile developers who are being asked to inspire the next crime-fighting move.

You can listen to my full report from Over The Air 2011 with Andy Williams and Craig Heath on our website, via iTunes or by downloading the MP3 file.
Print
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Rate this article:
No rating

Categories: Applications, OpinionNumber of views: 8535

Tags: security opinion applications crime

Leave a comment

This form collects your name, email, IP address and content so that we can keep track of the comments placed on the website. For more info check our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use where you will get more info on where, how and why we store your data.
Add comment

Recent Podcasts

Podcast - 21st July 2006

This week Iain and Mark take a deeper look at mobile security and crime, they review the massive 4GB N91 from Nokia and look at a a budget video phone from LG.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Podcast - 12th July 2006

As well as a brief look at the News this week the gang look at both ends of the new handset spectrum with the QTek 8500 and the BenQ-Siemens E61. James Rosewell provides an overview of how to get music and video to your mobile from DVDs and CDs.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Podcast - 7th July 2006

In The Fonecast this week, industry veteran Iain Graham and tech enthusiast Mark Bridge take a close look at the ultra-slim Samsung D900, they pore over the Nokia N73 smartphone and they evaluate a couple of new software downloads. In addition, application developer James Rosewell joins them for a revealing conversation about mobile blogging.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Podcast - 2nd July 2006

In The Fonecast this week, Iain Graham and Mark Bridge review the new Nokia N93 and Sony Ericsson W850i mobile phones, guest James Rosewell takes a look at competition from VoIP, HSDPA technology is demystified and a couple of new software downloads are evaluated.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS
First100101102103104105106107109

Follow thefonecast.com

Twitter @TheFonecast RSS podcast feed
Find us on Facebook Subscribe free via iTunes

Archive Calendar

«March 2024»
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
26272829123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
1234567

Archive

Terms Of Use | Privacy Statement