Protect smartphone from hackers

Table of Contents

I.INTRODUCTION...........................................................3

II.WHAT YOUR SMARTPHONE IS CAPABLE OF.....................4

III.WHO ARE THE HACKERS?............................................6

IV.HOW HACKERS INFECT YOUR SMARTPHONE...................8

V.WHAT CAN I DO TO PROTECT MY PHONE?......................14

VI.IT'S SIMPLY STEALING..............................................15

VII.WHAT SOFTWARE DO YOU RECOMMEND?...................16

VIII.CONCLUSION.........................................................19

2

I. INTRODUCTION

Since the roll-out of the first consumer model in
the mid 1980's, cellular phone technology has
just grown by leaps and bounds.

From what was once almost the size and weight

of a brick, cell phones have grown and shrunk,
been stuffed in a clam shell, changed colors and
casings, played music, strutted down the
catwalk, become a personal assistant and now
even assumed a female persona who can't
quite figure out what her native language really
is.

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Through its evolution, the thing about cell
phones is that it's always been a target.

Snatchers would grab it from you in the middle
of a busy street if you weren't mindful. Back in
the early 1990's, analog cell phones were prone
to cloning. Nowadays, you could be a victim of
“smishing.”

In this e-book, we will explain in very simple
terms what dangers, such as smishing, your
smartphone could be exposed to and how that
directly affects you and all your personal
information.

II. WHAT YOUR SMARTPHONE IS CAPABLE OF

If you're an old-school type of person and is
quite content with a cell phone that can only
send and receive calls and SMS, then consider
yourself safe from smartphone hackers. And
there's even a very good chance that no
snatcher would take an interest in that phone of
yours. :-)

4

On the other hand, if you want your cell phone
to:

• have the ability to connect to a wi-fi
network,

• send and receive email,

5

• browse the web,

• download apps,

• play online games,

• pay your bills,

• do mobile banking,

• be your best friend because it talks
to you in a funny accent and connects
you to all your other bff's in Facebook,
then you are officially on the list of
billions of potential targets for
smartphone hackers.

III. WHO ARE THE HACKERS?

Smartphone hackers are very crafty. They are a
technologically-savvy lot and like to stay ahead
of the curve. In fact, they probably know more
about the inner design of a smartphone and
how it works than the companies that actually
make them.

With all this dangerous knowledge in their
possession, they are able to exploit the

6

weaknesses of the smartphone's infrastructure
such as its operating system or some other
loophole.

It's like an unprotected desktop computer
system without any form of security software.
Your desktop becomes fair game for hackers.
Your phone is no different.

Are these hackers criminals? In many countries,
electronic intrusion is considered criminal
activity. So the answer is yes, even if they just
snoop around your computer or phone and did
not steal anything. Would you really want an
intruder snooping around inside your mobile
phone?

Many of today's hackers are affiliated with
organized crime. These are the sort who are the
most dangerous. They know exactly what they
want from you and they know exactly how to
take it from you. If you are not ready for them,
well, you will quite literally lose the shirt off
your back.

7

IV. HOW HACKERS INFECT YOUR SMARTPHONE

Unlike your home or office computer where you
can introduce a piece of malicious software
(malware) by sharing files or plugging in an
infected memory stick, much of what happens
on a phone is caused by the owner doing things
they he/she is not supposed to.

Going back to Chapter I of this ebook,
remember that you can be a potential victim if
you (and only you) engage in any of the
activities listed there. Even if you blame your
little brother for infecting it because he played
on your phone's games, it's still on you because
you downloaded those games there in the first
place.

Kidding aside, the bad guys are also pretty
good in psychology (besides being mean and
greedy). Some might even say that they're
clairvoyant.

They know exactly what consumers want to do
with their smartphones so they plant all their

8

malware in the places that the user goes to the
most (emails, Facebook, the apps marketplace,
and so on). They also understand the things
that users do not do, like taking necessary
precautions. The average user's lack of concern
effectively gives them a free pass into their
phones.

Here are four of the most common methods of
infecting your smartphone:

A. Email – It's really such a convenience if you
can read and send emails right in the palm of
your hand. And it's precisely because of this
convenience that hackers will get you.

Similar to a conventional email that you receive
on your computer, emails that you receive on
your mobile can be infected with malware.
These emails are also known as phishing
emails.

The hacker's intention is to get you to carry out
an action based on the content of the email. For
example, the email may be disguised as coming

9

from your bank and asking you to log-in to their
website and change your password.

But the website that the email directs you to is
really an external site set up by the cyber
criminals and the moment you enter your
personal information there, the thieves will
capture that information and paint the town
with what they are about to steal from your
bank account.

B. SMS – Don't we all just love to send and
receive text messages? The hackers know that
all too well and that's why there's a new
method now that they've employed to infect
you—it's called “smshing.”

Smshing is just a contraction of “SMS” and
“phishing.” So what the hackers have now done
is to send phishing messages by text.

Because smartphones are now able to take you
directly to a website from a text link, the bad
guys have now effectively turned this
convenience into a nefarious ally.

10

C. Rogue Apps – First “phishing,” then
“smshing,” and now “rogue apps?” What's up
with these terms?

People who are familiar with “Ookla” and
“Smrtguard” will probably know what I'm
talking about. Oh, and those who play “Angry
Birds” too. These are all names of smartphone
apps (but none of them are rogue, mind you).

Apps are to smartphones as software are to
your computer. “Apps” is short for applications.
These programs can really make your life a
breeze by keeping your daily appointments,
storing your passwords, simplify your mobile
banking, provide you with hours of
entertainment and even help you locate a lost
phone.

And this is exactly where the hackers strike
again—capitalizing on convenience. Therefore,
“rogue apps” refer to those that were created
by the cyber criminals.

Again, in the same way that downloading and

11

installing a virus-infected program on your
desktop computer will infect it, rogue apps
(applications containing spyware) will do the
same to your phone.

Hackers have now sprinkled the repository of
credible apps in the marketplace with their own
that are spyware-infected. So when you
download one of those and install it, the
infected program can now start sending your
private information back to the criminals.

Some go as far as sending texts from your
phone to premium services which the hackers
own. These will naturally incur a charge on your
phone. When you pay for these charges, your
money goes to the criminals.

D. Midnight Raid Attack (MRA) – No, this
has nothing to do with armed government
agents dropping down from helicopters hovering
over your house, then smashing through your
door at midnight and seizing your mobile phone
because of all the corny jokes you keep
forwarding through text. The concept of a MRA
12

is less physical.

In the mobile phone world, a "Midnight Raid
Attack" is carried out by sending a text message
to a phone that would automatically start up its
web browser and then directing the phone to a
malicious website. Hackers can take over
control of your phone by just being armed with
two things: a) knowledge of your phone's
operating system and b) your cell phone
number.

In short, the criminals can exploit the
vulnerabilities of your phone's operating system
just as they do on desktop systems. Because
operating systems often have serious
vulnerabilities if left un-updated, the criminals
can easily take advantage because of people's
tendency not to be mindful of these things.

As we've pointed out earlier, not only do the
cyber criminals know the smartphones better
than the makers do, they understand human
nature very well too.

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V. WHAT CAN I DO TO PROTECT MY PHONE?

Just as you would not leave home without
locking the door or you don't leave your jewelry
lying in the open, you should also apply the
same kind of caution when using your
smartphone.

Here are just a few simple things you should be
mindful of in order to secure your phone:

• Don't give your number to strangers. This
is the reason why MRA's occur;

• Don't store sensitive information in there,
like your social security number, ATM or credit
card PIN, etc.

• Don't access public wi-fi systems if it's not
necessary. You don't know how these public
providers secure their systems. Therefore if
they are not secure, then hackers can take
advantage;

• Don't click on any links from suspicious or
strange texts or emails. Delete the message
right away;

14

• Don't download and install strange apps, or
at least do a search online first for the
credibility of the apps in question;

• Turn the phone off at night or weekends,
during the times you don't need to use it;

• Install an anti-malware program, similar to
an anti-virus program for your desktop
computer.

VI. IT'S SIMPLY STEALING

Aren't we giving the hackers too much credit for
knowing smartphones and human nature inside
out?

If the hackers were operating on their own, that
might be the case. But as current events have
shown, most of these people's activities are tied
with organized crime. So it's not so much the
hackers, but the crime bosses who call the
shots.

Remember when President Obama declared that
his Blackberry will always be with him at the

15

time he started his presidency? The story goes
that his smartphone is protected with some
rock-solid security program that was developed
to withstand even the most sophisticated
attacks.

However the hackers that want to hack his
phone are very likely the same crowd that are
engaged in breaking into the phones of
everyday people looking for something to steal.

The point is, an anti-malware program on your
phone is security against what human nature
may overlook or forget. When you forget to lock
your house, something might get stolen. In a
brief moment of gaming passion, you download
and install a gaming app that's actually
malware, something will get stolen.

VII. WHAT SOFTWARE DO YOU RECOMMEND?

In our years of being in the information
technology arena, we've seen softwares come
and go. Those that have stuck around have
improved by leaps and bounds while others are

16

still as bloated (inefficiently coded) as when
they started.

One of the few that have emerged as
progressively efficient is Kaspersky Antivirus.

Kaspersky is currently offering the Mobile
Security 9 App for Blackberry's and Android's. It
offers comprehensive protection against spam
and malware on your smartphone. Other great
features include:

Locating a lost or stolen smartphone

• Securing your contact list, photos and files
from unauthorized access;
• Privacy protection, giving you exclusive
control over which of your contacts and
phone numbers you want to keep private;
• Block unwanted calls or SMS--important in
protecting against smishing;
• Restricting your children’s calls and SMSs;

Check out the Kaspersky Mobile 9 security
package website and avail of the free trial offer.

17

Clicking on the image above will take you to the
offer page.

There really is no substitute for a security
solution that will work for you during times
when you are too busy to manually look after
your phone's security setup.

Smartphones are such a part of everyday life
now, there's too much at stake especially when
sensitive, personal information are stored within
them. Don't allow the criminals even to set foot
in your phone. A few security precautions may
just free you from a lifetime of headaches.

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VIII. CONCLUSION

If you found the contents of this ebook helpful,
feel free to pass it on to someone who may also
find it useful. Please visit our website at
www.EmailAntivirus.info for more resources
on how to protect your computers, emails and
mobile phones from malicious attacks. Thank
you.

ABOUT US
This free ebook is brought to you by www.EmailAntivirus.info (EAV). It is for
personal use only and should not be sold or given away in consideration for
cash.
Our website provides information and resources for computer and smartphone
protection. It especially caters to those who may struggle with technology by
explaining in simple detail how virus, spyware and other malicious software
operate and how a user's computer or cell phone might end up being infected.
The content of this ebook is for information only. Readers must make their own
evaluation of the suitability of the ideas presented. Readers must also make
their own evaluation of any recommendations of products and services by
personally contacting the suppliers or advertisers and making decisions based
on the information that they provide.
It is understood that EAV is not and will not be held responsible for any
outcome that is detrimental to the readers' personal properties as a result of
such decisions made. Although great care has been taken in the compilation
and preparation of this ebook to ensure the accuracy of the information made
available, EAV cannot in any circumstances accept responsibility for errors or
omissions, or for the results of decisions taken.
The information given is not legal advice and must not be construed as such.
No information derived from this ebook is warranted nor guaranteed. If there
are doubts on the readers' part, they should not take any action based on
information in this report until they have performed their own research and are
satisfied as such. If legal advice is required, a lawyer should be consulted.
Trademarks and other brands mentioned in this ebook are properties of their
respective owners.
©2012 www.emailantivirus.info. For questions, comments or suggestions,
please contact us through our website.

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Protect smartphone from hackers

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