As the number of devices on the market increases, it is inevitable that so too does the security risks associated with these devices.
We normally associate security risks with computers and laptops as we are accessing the internet but if you access your bank account using your mobile phone then according to security experts, you are at risk from would be hackers who can apparently gain access to your personal information simply by sending a text message that appears to come from your service provider.
Ok most folk are likely to use a computer to access online banking so the number of people using a mobile to do this is fairly small by comparison but with the boundaries between mobiles and netbooks blurring all the time, the number of people using a mobile to access their bank account is likely to increase over time, along with the risk.
This latest threat to mobile phone users was first highlighted at the recent BlackHat security conference in April and has been gaining a lot of attention since then. According to Jukka Tuomi, Chief Technology Officer at Finland based ErAce Security Solutions a hacker doesn’t even have to be especially skilled to do it.
Simply installing software to deal with the problem won’t always work either as with some phones it is possible for the hacker to wipe it.
“People think they are closing their door, but the windows and the back door are open,” Tuomi said.
The problem arises because most people will accept an installation of new settings if the text message appears to come from their service provider, I mean why wouldn’t they, unless of course they are aware of the risk and most people are not.
What happens is that as you attempt to get into your bank account your phone will just come up with a message stating that you are opening a secure connection, nothing odd about that, whereas the connection is going straight through the hacker’s server along with all your personal information.
So is it something we should be overly worried about?
“This is a real risk, but we have not seen this used in any real attacks in the field,” said Mikko Hypponen, research director at Finnish security software firm F-Secure.
Another security expert, Jacob Greenblatt from security firm Discretix says “While this is definitely serious, there are certain safeguards which can be built into mobile devices to eliminate the threat entirely or to limit its potential for harm.”
As with all devices these days, it pays to be vigilant.
If you want to find out all the latest news on tech why not subscribe to our RSS feed?
Leave a Reply