Tag: Android

Samsung Expanding Mobile Management To Court Enterprise

Editor’s Note: this story was updated to note that Centrify is now known as Delinea. PFR Sept. 18, 2022 Apple stole the show this week, unveiling its new, larger iPhones and a smart watch that everyone is just calling iWatch, whether that’s the product’s name or not. But the rush of new products from Cupertino doesn’t change the fact that, behind the scenes, the battle for the hearts and minds of business users (aka “enterprises”) rages on between Apple, Google, Microsoft and Blackberry. iPhone 6 or no, the outcome of that battle is anything but clear. Case in point: Samsung will roll out new features this week for its KNOX-powered Android phones and tablets that are designed to appeal to security and privacy conscious business users. The new KNOX solution offerings, which will become public on Thursday, promise enterprises and government organizations the tools to simplify the implementation of BYOD (or Bring Your Own Device) programs. In […]

Ahead of Apple’s Announcement: The Security Implications of Wearables | Trend Micro

The world’s attention will be focused on Apple this week and on the topic of wearables. In an event on Tuesday, the Cupertino company is planning to unveil the latest additions to its popular iPhone line along with a wearable device that most folks are just calling the ‘iWatch.’ But as Apple wrestles with the security of its growing stable of mobile devices and the cloud infrastructure that supports them, what will the impact of wearables be? Well, the folks over at Trend Micro are putting together a series of blog posts that look at that very question. Namely: the (information) security implications of wearables. It makes for some interesting reading. Among other things, Trend There are three very broad categories that we can use to describe what we are talking about. The posts, by Senior Threat Researcher David Sancho, break down the wearables space into three categories:  ‘IN’ devices like sensors, ‘OUT’ […]

Report: Android Shield Adds Invisible Encryption To Mobile Apps

Wired reports on a team from Georgia Tech that has designed software that acts as an overlay on Android smartphones’ communication applications, encrypting communications to and from those apps, while mimicking their user interface. The researchers describe the technology as a “transparent window” over apps that prevents unencrypted messages from leaving the user’s device. “The window acts as a proxy between the user and the app. But the beauty of it is that users feel like they’re interacting with the original app without much, if any, change,” says Wenke Lee, the Georgia Tech professor who led the developers. “Our goal is to make security that’s as easy as air. You just breathe and don’t even think about it.” The researchers call their prototype Mimesis Aegis, or M-Aegis, Latin for “mimicry shield.” They plan to present their research at the Usenix Security conference this week. Read more via Wired: This Android Shield Could […]

Redbend-Samsung

Vulnerable Mobile Software Management Tool Reaches Into IoT

You could be forgiven for never having heard of Red Bend Software. The company is small – just 250 employees- and privately held. Red Bend’s headquarters is a suite of offices in a nondescript office park in Waltham, Massachusetts, just off Route 128 – America’s “Silicon Highway.” But the company’s small profile belies a big footprint in the world of mobile devices. Since 2005, more than 2 billion devices running the company’s mobile management software have been sold worldwide. Today, the Red Bend is believed to control between 70 and 90 percent of the market for mobile software management (MSM) technology, which carriers use to service mobile devices. The software enables mobile carriers to do critical tasks, including firmware-over-the-air (FOTA) software updates, mobile device configuration and other on-device changes.  Red Bend counts many of the world’s leading companies in the mobile, enterprise and manufacturing sectors as clients, including Intel, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sharp, LG, Sony, Huawei, China Mobile and Lenovo. For the most part, Red […]

FAKEID Logo

Old Apache Code at Root of Android FakeID Mess

A four year-old vulnerability in an open source component that is a critical part of Google’s Android mobile operating system could leave mobile devices that use it susceptible to attack, according to researchers at the firm Bluebox Security. The vulnerability was disclosed on Tuesday. It affects devices running Android versions 2.1 to 4.4 (“KitKat”), according to a statement released by Bluebox. According to Bluebox, the vulnerability was introduced to Android by way of the open source Apache Harmony module. It affects Android’s verification of digital signatures that are used to vouch for the identity of mobile applications, according to Jeff Forristal, Bluebox’s CTO. He will be presenting details about the FakeID vulnerability at the Black Hat Briefings security conference in Las Vegas next week.