It seems that this is going to be the year that smartphones start to get more security exposure. In December of 2009, President Obama’s cyber czar commented on the rising threat of smartphone attacks.
The iPhone has been targeted with questionable programs and malware such as libtiff, SMS fuzzing, Aurora Faint, Ikee, and Storm8. Blackberry is under fire by the UAE, India, and others for their inability to intercept RIM, Blackberry email. In June of 2010, SMobile Systems released a report, “Threat Analysis of the Android Market,” that stated that up to “one-fifth of Android applications have access to private data that could be used for malicious purpose.”
Smartphone vendors are going to have to work harder at securing their platforms and hardening them against attack. While stronger security controls are needed, there must also be an increased awareness that smartphones are mini computers with ever increasing power and access to personal information. If you would like to read more about this issue, take a moment to review the interview Michael Gregg did with the International Business Times on Blackberry hacking