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Table of Contents I.INTRODUCTION...........................................................3 II.WHAT YOUR SMARTPHONE IS CAPABLE OF.....................4 III.WHO ARE THE HACKERS?............................................6 IV.HOW HACKERS INFECT YOUR SMARTPHONE...................8 V.WHAT CAN I DO TO PROTECT MY PHONE?......................14 VI.IT'S SIMPLY STEALING..............................................15 VII.WHAT SOFTWARE DO YOU RECOMMEND?...................16 VIII.CONCLUSION.........................................................19
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I. INTRODUCTION Since the roll-out of the first consumer model in the mid 1980's, cellular phone technology has just grown by leaps and bounds. From what was once almost the size and weight
of a brick, cell phones have grown and shrunk, been stuffed in a clam shell, changed colors and casings,
played
music,
strutted
down
the
catwalk, become a personal assistant and now even assumed a female
persona who can't
quite figure out what her native language really is.
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Through its evolution, the thing about cell phones is that it's always been a target. Snatchers would grab it from you in the middle of a busy street if you weren't mindful. Back in the early 1990's, analog cell phones were prone to cloning. Nowadays, you could be a victim of “smishing.� In this e-book, we will explain in very simple terms what dangers, such as smishing, your smartphone could be exposed to and how that directly
affects
you
and
all
your
personal
information. II. WHAT YOUR SMARTPHONE IS CAPABLE OF
If you're an old-school type of person and is quite content with a cell phone that can only send and receive calls and SMS, then consider yourself safe from smartphone hackers. And there's even a very good chance that no snatcher would take an interest in that phone of yours. :-)
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On the other hand, if you want your cell phone to: •
have the ability to connect to a wi-fi
network, •
send and receive email,
5
•
browse the web,
•
download apps,
•
play online games,
•
pay your bills,
•
do mobile banking,
•
be your best friend because it talks
to you in a funny accent and connects you to all your other bff's in Facebook, then you are officially on the list of billions
of
potential
targets
for
smartphone hackers. III.
WHO ARE THE HACKERS? Smartphone hackers are very crafty. They are a technologically-savvy lot and like to stay ahead of the curve. In fact, they probably know more about the inner design of a smartphone
and
how it works than the companies that actually make them. With all this dangerous knowledge in their possession,
they
are
able 6
to
exploit
the
weaknesses of the smartphone's infrastructure such as its operating system or some other loophole. It's
like
an
unprotected
desktop
computer
system without any form of security software. Your desktop becomes fair game for hackers. Your phone is no different. Are these hackers criminals? In many countries, electronic
intrusion
is
considered
criminal
activity. So the answer is yes, even if they just snoop around your computer or phone and did not steal anything. Would you really want an intruder snooping around inside your mobile phone? Many of today's hackers are affiliated with organized crime. These are the sort who are the most dangerous. They know exactly what they want from you and they know exactly how to take it from you. If you are not ready for them, well, you will quite literally lose the shirt off your back.
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IV. HOW HACKERS INFECT YOUR SMARTPHONE
Unlike your home or office computer where you can introduce a piece of malicious software (malware) by sharing files or plugging in an infected memory stick, much of what happens on a phone is caused by the owner doing things they he/she is not supposed to. Going
back
to
Chapter
I
of
this
ebook,
remember that you can be a potential victim if you (and only you) engage in any of the activities listed there. Even if you blame your little brother for infecting it because he played on your phone's games, it's still on you because you downloaded those games there in the first place. Kidding aside, the bad guys are also pretty good in psychology (besides being mean and greedy). Some might even say that they're clairvoyant. They know exactly what consumers want to do with their smartphones so they plant all their 8
malware in the places that the user goes to the most (emails, Facebook, the apps marketplace, and so on). They also understand the things that users do not do, like taking necessary precautions. The average user's lack of concern effectively gives them a free pass into their phones. Here are four of the most common methods of infecting your smartphone: A. Email – It's really such a convenience if you can read and send emails right in the palm of your hand. And it's precisely because of this convenience that hackers will get you. Similar to a conventional email that you receive on your computer, emails that you receive on your mobile can be infected with malware. These
emails
are also
known as
phishing
emails. The hacker's intention is to get you to carry out an action based on the content of the email. For example, the email may be disguised as coming
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from your bank and asking you to log-in to their website and change your password. But the website that the email directs you to is really an external site set up by the cyber criminals and the moment you enter your personal information there, the thieves will capture that information and paint the
town
with what they are about to steal from your bank account. B. SMS – Don't we all just love to send and receive text messages? The hackers know that all too well and that's why there's a new method now that they've employed to infect you—it's called “smshing.” Smshing is just a contraction of “SMS” and “phishing.” So what the hackers have now done is to send phishing messages by text. Because smartphones are now able to take you directly to a website from a text link, the bad guys
have
now
effectively
convenience into a nefarious ally.
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turned
this
C.
Rogue
Apps
–
First
“phishing,”
then
“smshing,” and now “rogue apps?” What's up with these terms? People who are familiar with “Ookla” and “Smrtguard”
will
probably
know
what
I'm
talking about. Oh, and those who play “Angry Birds” too. These are all names of smartphone apps (but none of them are rogue, mind you). Apps are to smartphones as software are to your computer. “Apps” is short for applications. These programs can really make your life a breeze by keeping your daily appointments, storing your passwords, simplify your mobile banking,
provide
you
with
hours
of
entertainment and even help you locate a lost phone. And this is exactly where the hackers strike again—capitalizing on convenience. Therefore, “rogue apps” refer to those that were created by the cyber criminals. Again, in the same way that downloading and
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installing a virus-infected program on your desktop computer will infect it, rogue apps (applications containing spyware) will do the same to your phone. Hackers have now sprinkled the repository of credible apps in the marketplace with their own that
are
spyware-infected.
So
when
you
download one of those and install it, the infected program can now start sending your private information back to the criminals. Some go as far as sending texts from your phone to premium services which the hackers own. These will naturally incur a charge on your phone. When you pay for these charges, your money goes to the criminals. D. Midnight Raid Attack (MRA) – No, this has nothing to do with armed government agents dropping down from helicopters hovering over your house, then smashing through your door at midnight and seizing your mobile phone because of
all the
corny
jokes you keep
forwarding through text. The concept of a MRA 12
is less physical. In the mobile phone world, a "Midnight Raid Attack" is carried out by sending a text message to a phone that would automatically start up its web browser and then directing the phone to a malicious
website.
Hackers
can
take
over
control of your phone by just being armed with two things: a) knowledge of your phone's operating
system
and
b)
your
cell
phone
number. In
short,
the
criminals
can
exploit
the
vulnerabilities of your phone's operating system just as they do on desktop systems. Because operating
systems
often
have
serious
vulnerabilities if left un-updated, the criminals can easily take advantage because of people's tendency not to be mindful of these things. As we've pointed out earlier, not only do the cyber criminals know the smartphones better than the makers do, they understand human nature very well too.
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V. WHAT CAN I DO TO PROTECT MY PHONE?
Just as you would not leave home without locking the door or you don't leave your jewelry lying in the open, you should also apply the same
kind
of
caution
when
using
your
smartphone. Here are just a few simple things you should be mindful of in order to secure your phone: •
Don't give your number to strangers. This
is the reason why MRA's occur; •
Don't store sensitive information in there,
like your social security number, ATM or credit card PIN, etc. •
Don't access public wi-fi systems if it's not
necessary. You don't know how these public providers secure their systems. Therefore if they are not secure, then hackers can take advantage; •
Don't click on any links from suspicious or
strange texts or emails. Delete the message right away; 14
•
Don't download and install strange apps, or
at least do a search online first for the credibility of the apps in question; •
Turn the phone off at night or weekends,
during the times you don't need to use it; • an
Install an anti-malware program, similar to anti-virus
program
for
your
desktop
computer. VI. IT'S SIMPLY STEALING
Aren't we giving the hackers too much credit for knowing smartphones and human nature inside out? If the hackers were operating on their own, that might be the case. But as current events have shown, most of these people's activities are tied with organized crime. So it's not so much the hackers, but the crime bosses who call the shots. Remember when President Obama declared that his Blackberry will always be with him at the
15
time he started his presidency? The story goes that his smartphone is protected with some rock-solid security program that was developed to
withstand
even
the
most
sophisticated
attacks. However the hackers that want to hack his phone are very likely the same crowd that are engaged
in
breaking
into
the
phones
of
everyday people looking for something to steal. The point is, an anti-malware program on your phone is security against what human nature may overlook or forget. When you forget to lock your house, something might get stolen. In a brief moment of gaming passion, you download and
install
a
gaming
app
that's
actually
malware, something will get stolen. VII.
WHAT SOFTWARE DO YOU RECOMMEND?
In
our years
of
being
in
the
information
technology arena, we've seen softwares come and go. Those that have stuck around have improved by leaps and bounds while others are 16
still as bloated (inefficiently coded) as when they started. One
of
the
few
that
have
emerged
as
progressively efficient is Kaspersky Antivirus. Kaspersky
is
currently
offering
the
Mobile
Security 9 App for Blackberry's and Android's. It offers comprehensive protection against spam and malware on your smartphone. Other great features include: Locating a lost or stolen smartphone • Securing your contact list, photos and files from unauthorized access; • Privacy protection, giving you exclusive control over which of your contacts and phone numbers you want to keep private; • Block unwanted calls or SMS--important in protecting against smishing; • Restricting your children’s calls and SMSs; Check out the Kaspersky Mobile 9 security package website and avail of the free trial offer.
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Clicking on the image above will take you to the offer page. There really is no substitute for a security solution that will work for you during times when you are too busy to manually look after your phone's security setup. Smartphones are such a part of everyday life now, there's too much at stake especially when sensitive, personal information are stored within them. Don't allow the criminals even to set foot in your phone. A few security precautions may just free you from a lifetime of headaches.
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VIII.
CONCLUSION
If you found the contents of this ebook helpful, feel free to pass it on to someone who may also find it useful. Please visit our website at www.EmailAntivirus.info for more resources on how to protect your computers, emails and mobile phones from malicious attacks. Thank you. ABOUT US This free ebook is brought to you by www.EmailAntivirus.info (EAV). It is for personal use only and should not be sold or given away in consideration for cash. Our website provides information and resources for computer and smartphone protection. It especially caters to those who may struggle with technology by explaining in simple detail how virus, spyware and other malicious software operate and how a user's computer or cell phone might end up being infected. The content of this ebook is for information only. Readers must make their own evaluation of the suitability of the ideas presented. Readers must also make their own evaluation of any recommendations of products and services by personally contacting the suppliers or advertisers and making decisions based on the information that they provide. It is understood that EAV is not and will not be held responsible for any outcome that is detrimental to the readers' personal properties as a result of such decisions made. Although great care has been taken in the compilation and preparation of this ebook to ensure the accuracy of the information made available, EAV cannot in any circumstances accept responsibility for errors or omissions, or for the results of decisions taken. The information given is not legal advice and must not be construed as such. No information derived from this ebook is warranted nor guaranteed. If there are doubts on the readers' part, they should not take any action based on information in this report until they have performed their own research and are satisfied as such. If legal advice is required, a lawyer should be consulted. Trademarks and other brands mentioned in this ebook are properties of their respective owners. Š2012 www.emailantivirus.info. For questions, comments or suggestions, please contact us through our website. 19