mobile devices Archives

mobile devices

Malicious or Obnoxious? Chinese Mobile Vendor CoolPad Uses Secret Backdoors

December 17, 2014 Paul Roberts

CoolPad, an up-and-coming Chinese mobile phone maker, is shipping high-end, Android smart phones with so-called “back door” access built into the phone’s software. That, according to research by the firm Palo Alto Networks. Palo Alto researchers Claud Xiao and Ryan Olson released a report identifying the suspicious remote access software, which they dubbed “CoolReaper” on Wednesday. According to the report, the so-called “backdoor” program was shipped with stock operating systems (or ROMs) used by Coolpad’s “high end” phones in China and Taiwan. The software, which appears to have been created and managed by Coolpad, runs on top of the Android operating system and allows the company to remotely manage the phone independent of the wishes of its owner: pushing applications to the device without the user’s consent or notification, wiping data and applications, sending over-the-air (or OTA) updates to the phone, transmitting device data and sending arbitrary phone calls and SMS […]

BitDefender Finds Phone to Smart Watch Communications easy to Snoop

December 10, 2014 Paul Roberts

Researchers from the security firm BitDefender have found that it is possible to snoop on wireless communications sent between smart watches and Android devices to which they are paired. The researchers, led by Liviu Arsene, captured and analyzed raw traffic between the Nexus 4 Android device running Android L Developer Preview and the Samsung Gear Live smart watch. The traffic was captured on the Android device before it was transmitted to the associated smart watch using a baseband co-processor that it standard on most Android devices. According to BitDefender, the wireless traffic is secured using a six digit PIN code. That leaves the device vulnerable to computer-enabled “brute force” attacks that can try the million possible six digit codes in short order. BitDefender noted that the problem exposed wasn’t limited to smart watches. Using baseband co-processors on Android devices to handle encryption is “not a fool-proof security mechanism,” Arsene wrote. Attackers might also be […]

Big Data, Security Drive Dell In Post-PC Future

December 9, 2014 Paul Roberts

If you consider how the Internet of Things is transforming the technology industry, one of the most interesting and thought-provoking areas to pay attention to is what we might consider technology “majors” – firms like HP and IBM and Cisco that made their mark (and their hundreds of billions) serving the needs of an earlier generation of technology consumers. How these established technology firms are pivoting to address the myriad challenges posed by the “Internet of Things” tells us a lot about how the IoT market is likely to shake out for consumers and – more pressingly- the enterprise.

More Supply Chain Woes: DeathRing Is Factory-Loaded Smartphone Malware

December 5, 2014 Paul Roberts

The folks over at Lookout Security have an interesting blog piece on “DeathRing,” a Chinese Trojan that comes pre-installed on a number of smartphones most popular in Asian and African countries. According to the bulletin, the Trojan masquerades as a ringtone app, but downloads an SMS and WAP (or “wireless access protocol” ) content from a command and control server to the victim’s phone once it is installed. That downloaded content can be used for various malicious, money-making schemes, according to Lookout. For example, DeathRing can use the SMS content to send phishing text messages to the phone to elicit sensitive information from the user. The WAP content to manipulate a mobile user’s web browsing session. For example: the attackers might prompt victims to download additional mobile applications or add-ons, potentially extending their reach over the victim’s device and data. [Read more Security Ledger coverage of supply chain risks.] Lookout […]

A BlackBerry of Smart Glasses? Lenovo Courts Enterprise Wearables Market

November 13, 2014 Paul Roberts

The blog TechBitzz has an interesting write-up from Wednesday on electronics giant Lenovo’s partnership with a 35 person New York City based start-up, Vuzix to create an enterprise-ready equivalent to Google Glass. Vuzix was known as a maker of mounted video eyewear and launched its own smart glasses in December 2013. Earlier in 2014, the two companies struck a deal to have Lenovo sell Vuzix’s M100 as a co-brand. The glasses will run Google’s Android operating system – nothing new there. But what is different is Lenovo and Vuzix’ plans for marketing the device. Rather than target the (small) fan boy and early adopter consumer market, the two companies are focusing on business customers as a natural home for connected wearables like ‘smart’ glasses. Read more Security Ledger coverage of wearables here. Lenovo, it seems, is taking a decidedly less utopian view of wearables – seeing them as a natural replacement for its bulky laptops, […]