Major Smartphone worm by 2007

#89 Further to previous posts on this site about mobile device security neglect and concern around this leading to the launch of the worlds first mobile phone virus site we now have major analysts warning that mobile networks need to start building malware defences into their infrastructure now to avoid a meltdown when smartphones and PDA's take off.

However they noted that companies will not have to worry about a large-scale virus outbreaks targeting their smartphones for another 18 months. However, after that, even antivirus software is unlikely to help, Gartner analysts John Pescatore and John Girard wrote in a research paper published earlier this month. The paper looks at how enterprises should prepare for the growing threat from malicious software for mobile phones and PDAs

James Turner, a security analyst at Frost & Sullivan Australia, agreed that client-based reactive antivirus protection is unlikely to provide adequate protection. "Signature-driven antivirus tools are great for hindsight, but we are at a turning point where signatures are not enough…Currently the attackers are testing their tools against the most popular antivirus products, which means the threat they release has effectively been certified against what we are running," said Turner, who believes protection should be provided on the network layer. "We need to place more emphasis on tools that detect anomalies in network traffic and behaviour." This sentiment was echoed by all the analysts interviewed.