Smartphone Malwares Increase – iPhone, BlackBerry, Android Targeted.
Having a fancy phone can now come back to bite you with the number of mobile viruses and malware increasing on a daily basis. In India, only 25 million users pay for data services while around 65 million users use free services. The basic problem is that not many are aware of mobile viruses, or even if they are, choose to ignore it as they expect their expensive phone to be protected against viruses. Unfortunately, that is not the case, and more and more users are affected by mobile malware.
Why Smartphones?
It is simple. Hackers need to make money and what better way to do that than target the phones with the largest market share in terms of internet access. Smartphone market in India is only increasing and this gives hackers a larger market to play with. One of the most affected OS is the Symbian at a staggering 95% malwares reported.
What happens to affected phones?
This depends on the Trojan that has affected your phone. However, most users whose phones were hacked reported long distance calls being made to premium numbers.
Steps to ensure your phone is safe from such viruses
- Antivirus – Just like your PC, your phone needs to be protected from viruses. Anti-Viruses for mobiles are available from companies like Quick Heal Technologies and F-Secure Labs.
- Download from known sources – This really shouldn’t be one of the precautions we ought to mention but unfortunately our curiosity gets the better of us mostly. Please make sure you download from trusted sources itself.
- Deactivate Bluetooth – Many of us have a tendency to leave the Bluetooth on even if not required. Always make sure that your Bluetooth is off or in hidden mode to ensure that other Bluetooth devices cannot find yours. Many virus attacks have been reported via Bluetooth.
- Careful of the sender – Make sure you do not open attachments, just like in emails on PCs, from unknown senders. Ensuring that the sender is a trusted source is a good way to keep viruses out of your phon.
