Security News > 2010 > December > Smartphone botnets? New report predicts mobile devices will be part of DDoS attacks

http://www.csoonline.com/article/646713/smartphone-botnets-new-report-predicts-mobile-devices-will-be-part-of-ddos-attacks By Joan Goodchild Senior Editor CSO December 14, 2010 Smartphones could soon be used to launch distributed attacks, much like traditional PCs are now used as parts of larger botnet networks, according to a new report from ENISA, the European Network and Information Security Agency. In research that details the many risks of smartphones, the findings claim that while the devices are not currently being targeted for such attacks, this may change as mobile devices are becoming more popular, more connected and the complexity and the number of vulnerabilities in these platforms is increasing. Smartphone botnets could be used for familiar crimes such as spam, click fraud and DDoS, the report claims. Since smartphones interface with cellular networks, they could also be used for new distributed attack scenarios; such as SMS spam and DDoS on telephony networks. Such attacks could be used to support wider attacks on, for example, other infrastructure. "Mobile phone coverage is becoming increasingly vital, especially in the event of an emergency, so smartphones open up new possibilities for DDoS attacks with potentially serious impacts," according to the findings. In an example, the report cites an example of a 2001 virus that impacted DoCoMo, a Japanese mobile operator. The 'i-mode virus' had access to call interfaces, which were available to malicious emails at the time and caused the user's device to dial emergency numbers. [...] ___________________________________________________________ Tegatai Managed Colocation: Four Provider Blended Tier-1 Bandwidth, Fortinet Universal Threat Management, Natural Disaster Avoidance, Always-On Power Delivery Network, Cisco Switches, SAS 70 Type II Datacenter. Find peace of mind, Defend your Critical Infrastructure. http://www.tegataiphoenix.com/

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http://www.csoonline.com/article/646713/smartphone-botnets-new-report-predicts-mobile-devices-will-be-part-of-ddos-attacks