CYBER WATCH


5. WEP Weaknesses — WEP encryption is still one of the most common security implementations, and passwords can easily be cracked using Airsnort. It takes less than an hour for good hackers to crack a busy access point’s password. 6. Clear Text Encryption Passwords — Mobile devices are portable. They get lost, stolen and can quickly and easily be ac- cessed when left lying around. Unfortu- nately, there are many third-party “encryption” programs that do not prop- erly secure sensitive information, such as username/password and financials. 7. Malicious Code: “Airborne” mobile viruses have been increasing in com- plexity at a surprising pace. We have al- ready seen blended Trojan and virus threats that can spread through smart phones using multiple wireless proto- cols. This could be problematic as cur- rent mobile devices cannot support sophisticated anti-virus. 8. Autorun — Windows Mobile devices contain a little-known autorun feature that


can provide an attacker with a quick and easy method of infection. When a media card is inserted into the PDA, Windows Mobile will copy over the autorun.exe (if it exists), create a copy in the /Windows di- rectory and execute it. 9. Multiple VoIP Attacks — VoIP is avail- able on many portable handheld devices on the market via natively installed soft- ware or third party add-ons. VoIP is mostly sent in an unencrypted format. As a result, anyone can see the connection informa- tion and capture and record the conver- sation. Programs like VoMiT and Cain & Abel can easily accomplish this. 10. Lost & Stolen Devices — This is per- haps the greatest threat to inadvertent dis- closure of enterprise data. To help mitigate this, all mobile databases (including pa- tient medical records, financial institution customer lists, etc.) should be encrypted. Well-written security policies and user ed- ucation are also important.


The ecosystem of crime and espionage is also emerging because of opportunism.


Cyber espionage is the great equalizer. Countries no longer have to spend billions of dollars to build globe-spanning satellites to pursue high-level intelligence gathering, when they can do so via the web. There is a real risk of a “perfect storm” in cyberspace erupting out of this vacuum. It threatens to subvert cyberspace itself, either through overreaction, a spiraling arms race, the imposition of heavy- handed controls or through gradual irrele- vance as people disconnect out of fear of insecurity. And now that the criminals have found ways to attack mobile devices of all types, businesses now have one more thing to worry about.


Brent MacLean is the founder and CEO of J.B. MacLean Consulting (www.jbm.net) and Cana- dian Intelligence Solutions. He has more than 22 years


of experience in network, security, and in- frastructure design and troubleshooting.


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