CYBERCRIME: MOBILE AND WIRELESS

DEVICES
• INTRODUCTION
• PROLIFERATION OF MOBILE AND WIRELESS
DEVICES
• TRENDS IN MOBILIT Y
• CREDIT CARD FRAUDS IN MOBILE AND
WIRELESS COMPUTING ERA
• SECURIT Y CHALLENGES POSED BY MOBILE
DEVICES
• REGISTRY SETTINGS FOR MOBILE DEVICES
• AUTHENTICATION SERVICE SECURIT Y UNIT-3
• ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES
• ORGANIZATIONAL MEASURES FOR HANDLING
MOBILE DEVICES-RELATED SECURIT Y ISSUES
• ORGANIZATIONAL SECURIT Y POLICIES AND
MEASURES IN MOBILE COMPUTING ERA
• LAPTOPS
 INTRODUCTION

 In this modern era, electronic gadgets (i.e., mobile hand-held

devices) have become an integral part of business, providing
connectivity with the Internet outside the of fice.
 This challenges to secure these devices from being a victim of
cybercrime.
 In the recent years, the use of laptops, PDAs and mobile phones
has lead to widespread desktop replacement.
 The complexity of managing these devices outside the walls of
the office is something that the information technology (IT)
departments in the organizations need to address.
 Remote connection has extended from fixed location dial-in to
wireless-on-the-move, and smart hand-held devices such as PDAs
have become networked, converging with mobile phones.
 INTRODUCTION

 Number of internet users

 INTRODUCTION

 Number of Mobile Phone users

 INTRODUCTION

 The maturation of the PDA and advancements in cellular phone

technology have converged into a new category of mobile phone
device: the Smar tphone.
 Smartphones combine the best aspects of mobile and wireless
technologies and blend them into a useful business tool.
 Although IT departments of organizations as yet are not
swapping employees‟ company -provided PDAs for the
Smartphones, many users may bring these devices from home
and use them in the of fice.
 Thus, the larger and more diverse community of mobile users
and their devices increase the demands on the IT function to
secure the device, data and connection to the network, keeping
control of the corporate assets, while at the same time
supporting mobile user productivity.
 Clearly, these technological developments present a new set of
security challenges to the global organizations.
 PROLIFERATION OF MOBILE AND
WIRELESS DEVICES
 Today, incredible advances are being made for mobile devices.
 The trend is for smaller devices and more processing power and
with wireless Web-browsing capabilities.
 A simple hand-held mobile device provides enough computing
power to run small applications, play games and music, and
make voice calls.
 As the term “mobile device” includes many products since 1990s
like:
1. Portable Computer: It is a general-purpose computer that can be easily
moved from one place to another, but cannot be used while in transit,
usually because it requires some “setting-up” and an AC power source.
2. Tablet PC: It lacks a keyboard, is shaped like a slate or a paper
notebook and has features of a touch screen with a stylus and handwriting
recognition software. Tablets may not be best suited for applications
requiring a physical keyboard for typing, but are otherwise capable of
carrying out most tasks that an ordinary laptop would be able to perform.
PROLIFERATION OF MOBILE AND
WIRELESS DEVICES
3. Internet Tablet: It is the Internet appliance in tablet form. Unlike a Tablet
PC, the Internet tablet does not have much computing power and its
applications suite is limited. Also it cannot replace a general-purpose
computer. The Internet tablets typically feature an MP3 and video player, a
Web browser, a chat application and a picture viewer.
4. Personal Digital Assistant (PDA): It is a small, usually pocket-sized,
computer with limited functionality. It is intended to supplement and
synchronize with a desktop computer, giving access to contacts, address book,
notes, E-Mail and other features.
5. Ultra mobile PC: It is a full-featured, PDA-sized computer running a general-
purpose operating system (OS).
6. Smartphone: It is a PDA with integrated cell phone functionality. Current
Smartphones have a wide range of features and installable applications.
7. Carputer: It is a computing device installed in an automobile. It operates as
a wireless computer, sound system, global positioning system (GPS) and DVD
player. It also contains word processing software and is Bluetooth compatible.
8. Fly Fusion Pentop Computer: It is a computing device with the size and
shape of a pen. It functions as a writing utensil, MP3 player, language
translator, digital storage device and calculator.
PROLIFERATION OF MOBILE AND
WIRELESS DEVICES
 PROLIFERATION OF MOBILE AND
WIRELESS DEVICES
 Wireless refers to the method of transferring information
between a computing device (such as a PDA) and a data source
(such as an agency database server) without a physical
connection.
 Not all wireless communication technologies are mobile.
 For example, lasers are used in wireless data transfer between
buildings, but cannot be used in mobile communications at this
time. Mobile simply describes a computing device that is not
restricted to a desktop that is not tethered.
 As more personal devices find their way into the enterprise,
corporations are realizing cyber security threats that come along
with the benefits achieved with mobile solutions.
 TRENDS IN MOBILIT Y

 Mobile computing is moving into a new era, New generations

(3G, 4G, 5G, etc.), which promises greater variety in applications
and have highly improved usability as well as speedier
networking.
 “iPhone” from Apple and Google-led “Android” phones are the
best examples of this trend and there are plenty of other
developments that point in this direction.
 This smart mobile technology is rapidly gaining popularity and
the attackers (hackers and crackers) are among its biggest fans.
 It is worth noting the trends in mobile computing; this will help
readers to realize the seriousness of cybersecurity issues in the
mobile computing domain.
TRENDS IN MOBILIT Y
 TRENDS IN MOBILIT Y

 Key Findings for Mobile Computing Security Scenario:

1. With usage experience, awareness of mobile users gets
enhanced
2. People continue to remain the weakest link for laptop security
3. Wireless connectivity does little to increase burden of managing
laptops
4. laptop experience changes the view of starting a smart hand-
held pilot
5. There Is naivety and/or neglect In smart hand-held security
6. Rules rather than technology keep smart hand-helds‟ usage In
check
 TRENDS IN MOBILIT Y

 Popular types of attacks against mobile networks are as follows:

1. Malwares, Viruses and Worms: Although many users are still in the
transient process of switching from 3G,4G, 5G, it is a growing need to educate
the community people and provide awareness of such threats that exist while
using mobile devices. Here are few examples of malware(s) specific to mobile
devices:
a. Skull Trojan: It targets Series 60 phones equipped with the Symbian mobile OS.
b. Cabir Worm: It is the first dedicated mobile-phone worm; infects phones running
on Symbian OS and scans other mobile devices to send a copy of itself to the first
vulnerable phone it finds through Bluetooth Wireless technology. The worst thing
about this worm is that the source code for the Cabir-H and Cabir-I viruses is
available online.
c. Mosquito Trojan: It affects the Series 60 Smart phones and is a cracked version of
“Mosquitos” mobile phone game.
d. Brador Trojan: It affects the Windows CE OS by creating a [Link] file in the
Windows start-up folder which allows full control of the device. This executable file is
conductive to traditional worm propagation vector such as E-Mail file attachments
(refer to Appendix C).
e. Lasco Worm: It was released first in 2005 to target PDAs and mobile phones
running the Symbian OS. Lasco is based on Cabir‟s source code and replicates over
Bluetooth connection.
 TRENDS IN MOBILIT Y

2. Denial-of-Service (DoS): The main objective behind this attack is to

make the system unavailable to the intended users. Virus attacks can be
used to damage the system to make the system unavailable.
3. Overbilling Attack: Overbilling involves an attacker hijacking a
subscriber‟s IP address and then using it (i.e., the connection) to initiate
downloads that are not “Free downloads” or simply use it for his/her own
purposes. In either case, the legitimate user is charged for the activity
which the user did not conduct.
4. Spoofed Policy Development Process (PDP): These types of attacks
exploit the vulnerabilities in the GTP [General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
Tunneling Protocol].
5. Signaling-level Attacks: The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a
signaling protocol used in IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) networks to
provide Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. There are several
vulnerabilities with SIP-based VoIP systems.
 CREDIT CARD FRAUDS IN MOBILE
AND WIRELESS COMPUTING ERA
 Today belongs co "mobile computing," chat is, “anywhere anytime
computing”
 These are new trends in cybercrime that are coming up with mobile
computing – mobile commerce (M- Commerce) and mobile banking
(M-Banking).
 Credit card frauds are now becoming commonplace given the ever-
increasing power and the ever-reducing prices of the mobile hand-
held devices, factors that result in easy availability of these gadgets
to almost anyone.
 Mobile credit card transactions are now very common; new
technologies combine low -cost mobile phone technologies with the
capabilities of a point-of-sale (POS) terminal.
 Today belongs to “mobile computing,” that is, anywhere anytime
computing.
 Credit card companies, normally, do a good job of helping
consumers resolve identity (ID) theft problems once they occur.
 But they could reduce ID fraud even more if they give consumers
better tools to monitor their accounts and limit high-risk
transactions.
CREDIT CARD FRAUDS IN MOBILE
AND WIRELESS COMPUTING ERA

Figure: Online Environment for Credit Card Transactions

 CREDIT CARD FRAUDS IN MOBILE
AND WIRELESS COMPUTING ERA
 Tips to Prevent Credit Card Frauds:
Do‟s
1. Put your signature on the card immediately upon its receipt.
2. Make the photocopy of both the sides of your card and preserve it at a safe place to
remember the card number, expiration date in case of loss of card.
3. Change the default Personal Identification Number (PIN) received from the bank
before doing any transaction.
4. Always carry the details about contact numbers of your bank in case of loss of your
card.
5. Carry your cards in a separate pouch/card holder than your wallet.
6. Keep an eye on your card during the transaction, and ensure to get it back
immediately.
7. Preserve all the receipts to compare with credit card invoice.
8. Reconcile your monthly invoice/statement with your receipts.
9. Report immediately any discrepancy observed in the monthly invoice/statement.
10. Destroy all the receipts after reconciling it with the monthly invoice/statement.
11. Inform your bank in advance, about any change in your contact details such as
home address, cell phone number and E-Mail address.
12. Ensure the legitimacy of the website before providing any of your card details.
13. Report the loss of the card immediately in your bank and at the police station, if
necessary.
 CREDIT CARD FRAUDS IN MOBILE
AND WIRELESS COMPUTING ERA
 Tips to Prevent Credit Card Frauds:
Dont‟s
1. Store your card number and PINs in your cell.
2. Lend your cards to anyone.
3. Leave cards or transaction receipts lying around.
4. Sign a blank receipt (if the transaction details are not legible, ask for
another receipt to ensure the amount instead of trusting the seller).
5. Write your card number/PIN on a postcard or the outside of an
envelope.
6. Give out immediately your account number over the phone (unless you
are calling to a company/ to your bank).
7. Destroy credit card receipts by simply dropping into garbage
box/dustbin.
 CREDIT CARD FRAUDS IN MOBILE
AND WIRELESS COMPUTING ERA
 There is a system available from an Australian company
“Alacrity” called Closed-Loop Environment for Wireless (CLEW).
Below figure shows the flow of events.
1. Merchant sends a transaction to bank;
2. The bank transmits the request to the authorized cardholder [not short
message service (SMS)];
3. The cardholder approves or rejects (password protected);
4. The bank/merchant is notified;
5. The credit card transaction is completed.
CREDIT CARD FRAUDS IN MOBILE
AND WIRELESS COMPUTING ERA
 CREDIT CARD FRAUDS IN MOBILE
AND WIRELESS COMPUTING ERA
 Types and Techniques of Credit Card Frauds:
1. Traditional Techniques
a. ID theft: Where an individual pretends to be someone else
b. Financial fraud: Where an individual gives false information about his or
her financial status to acquire credit.
2. Modern Techniques
a. Triangulation:
• The criminal offers the goods with heavy discounted rates through a website
designed and hosted by him, which appears to be legitimate merchandise website.
• The customer registers on this website with his/her name, address, shipping
address and valid credit card details.
• The criminal orders the goods from a legitimate website with the help of stolen
credit card details and supply shipping address that have been provided by the
customer while registering on the criminal‟s website.
• The goods are shipped to the customer and the transaction gets completed.
• The criminal keeps on purchasing other goods using fraudulent credit card details
of different customers till the criminal closes existing website and starts a new one.
 CREDIT CARD FRAUDS IN MOBILE
AND WIRELESS COMPUTING ERA
b. Credit card generators: It is another modern technique – computer emulation software
– that creates valid credit card numbers and expiry dates. The criminals highly rely on
these generators to create valid credit cards. These are available for free download on the
Internet.
 Potential Wireless Users – Beware!
 Although wireless processing is a very good system for many
companies. however. it is not for all mobile businesses.
 Wireless processing equipment Is expensive
 Wireless processing comes with extra fees
 Wireless credit cord machines are subject to cellular coverage blackouts
 You cannot process checks or debit transactions over a wireless network
 SECURIT Y CHALLENGES POSED BY
MOBILE DEVICES

 Mobility brings two main challenges to cybersecurity:

1. on the hand-held devices, information is being taken outside the
physically controlled environment and
2. remote access back to the protected environment is being granted

 Perceptions of the organizations to these cybersecurity

challenges are important in devising appropriate security
operating procedure. As the number of mobile device users
increases, two challenges are presented:
1. at the device level called “microchallenges” and
2. at the organizational level called “macrochallenges”
 SECURIT Y CHALLENGES POSED BY
MOBILE DEVICES
 Some well-known technical challenges in mobile security are:
 Managing the registry settings and configurations, authentication
service security
 Cryptography security
 Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) security
 Remote Access Server (RAS) security
 Media player control security
 Networking application program interface (API) security, etc.
SECURIT Y CHALLENGES POSED BY
MOBILE DEVICES

Fig: Important issues for managing mobile devices.

 REGISTRY SETTINGS FOR MOBILE
DEVICES
 Microsoft ActiveSync is meant for synchronization with Windows-
powered personal computers (PCs) and Microsoft Outlook .
 ActiveSync acts as the gateway between Windows-powered PC
and Windows mobile-powered device, enabling the transfer of
applications such as Outlook information, Microsoft Of fice
documents, pictures, music, videos and applications from a
user‟s desktop to his/her device.
 In addition to synchronizing with a PC, ActiveSync can
synchronize directly with the Microsoft exchange server so that
the users can keep their E-Mails, calendar, notes and contacts
updated wirelessly when they are away from their PCs.
 In this context, registry setting becomes an important issue
given the ease with which various applications allow a free flow
of information.
 REGISTRY SETTINGS FOR MOBILE
DEVICES
 One of the most prevalent areas where this attention to security is
applicable is within “group policy.” Group policy is one of the core
operations that are per formed by Windows Active Director y.
 There is one more dimension to mobile device security: new mobile
applications are constantly being provided to help protect against
Spyware, viruses, worms, malware and other Malicious Codes that run
through the networks and the Internet . The mobile security issues on a
Windows platform is that the baseline security is not configured properly.
 Even if user s go through ever y Control Panel setting and group policy
option, they may not get the computer to the desired baseline security.
 The only way to get a Windows computer to a security level is to make
additional registr y changes that are not exposed through any inter face.
There are many ways to complete these registr y changes on ever y
computer, but some are cer tainly more ef ficient than other s.
 Naïve (Innocent) user s may think that for solving the problem of mobile
device security there are not many registr y settings to tackle. However, the
reality is far dif ferent! The reality of the overall problem becomes
prevalent when you star t researching and investigating the abundance of
“registr y hacks”
REGISTRY SETTINGS FOR MOBILE
DEVICES
 AUTHENTICATION SERVICE
SECURIT Y
 There are two components of security in mobile computing:
 security of devices and
 security in networks.
 A secure network access involves mutual authentication between
the device and the base stations or Web servers.
 This is to ensure that only authenticated devices can be
connected to the network for obtaining the requested services.
 No Malicious Code can impersonate (imitate) the service
provider to trick the device into doing something it does not
mean to. Thus, the networks also play a crucial role in security of
mobile devices.
 Some eminent kinds of attacks to which mobile devices are
subjected to are: push attacks, pull attacks and crash attacks.
AUTHENTICATION SERVICE
SECURIT Y
AUTHENTICATION SERVICE
SECURIT Y
AUTHENTICATION SERVICE
SECURIT Y
 AUTHENTICATION SERVICE
SECURIT Y
 Authentication services security is important given the typical
attacks on mobile devices through wireless networks: DoS
attacks, traf fic analysis, eavesdropping, man-in-the-middle
attacks and session hijacking.
 Security measures in this scenario come from Wireless
Application Protocols (WAPs), use of VPNs, media access control
(MAC) address filtering and development in [Link] standards.
 AUTHENTICATION SERVICE
SECURIT Y
Cr yptographic Security for Mobile Devices:
 Cr yptographically Generated Addresses (CGA) is Internet Protocol ver sion 6
(IPv6) that addresses up to 64 address bits that are generated by hashing
owner‟s public-key address.
 The address the owner uses is the corresponding private key to asser t
address owner ship and to sign messages sent from the address without a
public-key infrastructure (PKI) or other security infrastructure .
 Deployment of PKI provides many benefits for user s to secure their financial
transactions initiated from mobile devices.
 CGA -based authentication can be used to protect IP-layer signaling protocols
including neighbor discover y (as in context-aware mobile computing
applications) and mobility protocols.
 It can also be used for key exchange in oppor tunistic Internet Protocol
Security (IPSec). Palms (devices that can be held in one‟s palm) are one of
the most common hand-held devices used in mobile computing.
 Cr yptographic security controls are deployed on these devices.
 For example, the Cr yptographic Provider Manager (CPM) in Palm OS5 is a
system-wide suite of cr yptographic ser vices for securing data and resources
on a palm-powered device.
 The CPM extends encr yption ser vices to any application written to take
advantage of these capabilities, allowing the encr yption of only selected
data or of all data and resources on the device.
 AUTHENTICATION SERVICE
SECURIT Y
LDAP Security for Hand-held Mobile Computing Devices:
 LDAP is a software protocol for enabling anyone to locate
individuals, organizations and other resources such as files and
devices on the network (i.e., on the public Internet or on the
organizations‟s Intranet).
 In a network, a directory tells you where an entity is located in
the network .
 LDAP is a light weight (smaller Attacker Launches blended
attack over rogue ad hoc network (802.11 , bluetooth, infrared)
amount of code) version of Directory Access Protocol (DAP)
because it does not include security features in its initial
version.
 AUTHENTICATION SERVICE
SECURIT Y
RAS Security for Mobile Devices:
 RAS (Remote Access Server) is an important consideration for
protecting the business-sensitive data that may reside on the
employees‟ mobile devices.
 In terms of cybersecurity, mobile devices are sensitive. Below
Figure: organization‟s sensitive data can happen through mobile
hand-held devices carried by employees.
 In addition to being vulnerable to unauthorized access on their
own, mobile devices also provide a route into the systems with
which they connect. By using a mobile device to appear as a
registered user (impersonating or masquerading) to these
systems, a would-be cracker is then able to steal data or
compromise corporate systems in other ways.
 AUTHENTICATION SERVICE
SECURIT Y

Figure: Communication from mobile client to organization

information store.
 AUTHENTICATION SERVICE
SECURIT Y
 Another threat comes from the practice of port scanning:
 First, attackers use a domain name system (DNS) ser ver to locate
the IP address of a connected computer. A domain is a collection of
sites that are related in some sense.
 Second, they scan the ports on this known IP address, working their
way through its Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/User Datagram
Protocol (UDP) stack to see what communication ports are
unprotected by firewalls.
 For instance, File Transfer Protocol (FTP) transmissions are typically
assigned to port 21 . If this port is left unprotected, it can be
misused by the attackers.
 Protecting against port scanning requires sof tware that can trap
unauthorized incoming data packets and prevent a mobile device
from revealing its existence and ID.
 A personal firewall on a pocket PC or Smartphone device can be an
effective protective screen against this form of attack for the users
connecting through a direct Internet or RAS connection
 AUTHENTICATION SERVICE
SECURIT Y
Media Player Control Security:
 Various leading software development organizations have been
warning the users about the potential security attacks on their
mobile devices through the “music gateways.” There are many
examples to show how a media player can turn out to be a
source of threat to information held on mobile devices. For
example, in the year 2002, Microsoft Corporation warned about
this.
 According to this news item, Microsoft had warned people that a
series of flaws in its Windows Media Player could allow a
malicious hacker to hijack people‟s computer systems and
perform a variety of actions.
 According to this warning from Microsoft, in the most severe
exploit of a flaw, a hacker could take over a computer system
and perform any task the computer‟s owner is allowed to do,
such as opening files or accessing certain parts of a network.
 AUTHENTICATION SERVICE
SECURIT Y
Networking API Security for Mobile Computing Applications:
 With the advent of electronic commerce (E-Commerce) and its further
off -shoot into M-Commerce, online payments are becoming a
common phenomenon with the payment gateways accessed remotely
and possibly wirelessly.
 Furthermore, with the advent of Web ser vices and their use in mobile
computing applications, the API becomes an important consideration.
 Already, there are organizations announcing the development of
various APIs to enable software and hardware developers to write
single applications
 Most of these developments are targeted specifically at securing a
range of embedded and consumer products, including those running
OSs such as Linux, Symbian, Microsoft Windows CE and Microsof t
Windows Mobile (the last three are the most commonly used OSs for
mobile devices).
 Technological developments such as these provide the ability to
significantly improve cybersecurity of a wide range of consumer as
well as mobile devices. Providing a common software framework,
APIs will become an important enabler of new and higher value
services.
ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

Mobile Phone Thef t

 Mobile phone has transformed from being a luxury to a bare
necessity.
 Increase in the purchasing power and availability of numerous low
cost handsets have also lead to an increase in mobile phone users.
 Theft of mobile phones has risen dramatically over the past few
years.
 Many Insurance Companies have stopped of fering Mobile Thef t
Insurance due to a large number of false claims.
 "Contact List" and "Personally Identifiable Information (PII)" really
matter when mobile phones are lost.
 After PC, the criminals„ target has been cell phones due to the
following reasons:
 availability of internet using cell phones.
 increasing demand for Wi-Fi zones in the metropolitans and
 extensive usage of cell phones in the youths with lack of
awareness/knowledge about the vulnerabilities of the technology.
ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

 Tips to Secure your Cell/Mobile Phone from being Stolen/Lost:

 Ensure to note the following details about your cell phone and
preserve it in a safe place
 Your phone number;
 the make and model
 color and appearance details
 PIN and/or security Iock code
 IMEI number.
ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

The International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI)

 It is a number unique to every GSM, WCDMA and iDEN cell
phone. It is a 15-digit number one can be obtained by entering
*#06# from the keypad.
 The IMEI number is used by the GSM network to Identify valid
devices and therefore con be used to stop o stolen phone from
accessing the network In that country. For example. if a mobile
phone is stolen. the owner con call his or her service provider
and instruct them lo "Iock" the phone using its IMEI number This
will help to stop the usage or phone in that country. even if a SIM
is changed.
ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

 1 . Add a security mark on your cell phone. Use permanent

marker and print your alternate contact number and short
address on your cell phone instrument as well as on battery. In
case someone finds your handset it is easier to contact you if the
finder of your cell phone would like to return it to you.
 2. Set a password and ensure the password is strong enough so
that a finder of your cell phone cannot easily guess it.
 3. In case of loss or your cell phone. register a complaint with
cell phone service provider immediately using your IMEI number.
to enable your service provider to block your cell phone and your
account details. Preserve on the details or launched complaints.
that is obtain confirmation in writing from your service provider
that your phone has been disabled.
 4. In case of loss of your cell phone, register a complaint at the
police station and obtain FIR. Preserve all the details for
launched complaints. i.e. FIR report.
ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

 5. Keep an eye on your phone while traveling. During the security

check at the airport security, ensure to retrieve your cell phone
immediately once It enters the x-ray machine - criminals often steal
phones during these vulnerable seconds.
 6. Keep Wi-Fi and Bluetooth OFF when it is not required to be in
use. Airports. coffee shops, hotels and all other public places
wherever free Wi-Fi zone is available criminals always have an eye
to seek the vulnerability to steal information.
 7. Periodic backup is important and especially if you are traveling,
backup before traveling is necessar y. It takes only few minutes to
take backup but it is always helpful in case you lose your cell phone
during traveling.
 8. Do not forget to apply all the updates for cell phone
software/firmware, received from manufacturers, which are
routinely provided to update vulnerabilities fixes.
 9. Only download applications from reputable sources - specific
care should be taken while downloading plug-in applications on the
cell phone. It is always advised to use the recommendations
provided by cell phone manufacturers' to download directly from the
Web.
ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

 Install antitheft software on your cell phone

 GadgetTrak
 Back2u
 Wavesecure
 F-Secure
 The following factors contribute for outbreaks on mobile devices:
1. Enough target terminals: The first Palm OD virus was seen after the number
of Palm OS devices reached 15million. The 1st instance of a mobile virus was
observed during June 2004 when it was discovered that an organization
“Ojam” had engineered an antipiracy Trojan virus in older versions of their
mobile phone game known as Mosquito. This virus sent SMS text messages to
the organization without the user‟s knowledge.
2. Enough functionality: Mobile devices are increasingly being equipped with
office functionality and already carry critical data & applications, which are
often protected insufficiently or not at all. The expanded functionality also
increases the probability of malware.
3. Enough connectivity: Smartphones offer multiple communication options,
such as SMS, MMS, synchronization, Bluetooth, infrared (IR) and WLAN
connections
ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

Mobile Viruses:
 A mobile virus is similar to a computer virus that targets mobile
phone data or applications/software installed in it.
 Virus attacks on mobile devices are no longer an exception or proof-
of-concept nowadays.
 In total, 40 mobile virus families and more than 300(+) mobile
viruses have been identified.
 First mobile virus was identified in 2004 and it was the beginning to
understand that mobile devices can act as vectors to enter the
computer network.
 Mobile viruses get spread through two dominant communication
protocols – Bluetooth and MMS.
 Bluetooth virus can easily spread within a distance of 10–30 m,
through Bluetooth-activated phones
 MMS virus can send a copy of itself to all mobile users whose
numbers are available in the infected mobile phone‟s address book.
ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

 Following are some tips to protect mobile from mobile malware

attacks:
1. Download or accept programs and content (including ring tones, games,
video clips and photos) only from a trusted source.
2. If a mobile is equipped with Bluetooth, turn it OFF or set it to non-
discoverable mode when it is not in use and/or not required to use.
3. If a mobile is equipped with beam (i.e., IR), allow it to receive incoming
beams, only from the trusted source.
4. Download and install antivirus software for mobile devices.
ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

Mishing
 Mishing is a combination of mobile and Phishing. Mishing
attacks are attempted using mobile phone technology.
 M-Commerce is fast becoming a part of everyday life. If you use
your mobile phone for purchasing goods/services and for
banking, you could be more vulnerable to a Mishing scam.
 A typical Mishing attacker uses call termed as Vishing or
message (SMS) known as Smishing.
 Attacker will pretend to be an employee from your bank or
another organization and will claim a need for your personal
details.
 Attackers are very creative and they would try to convince you
with dif ferent reasons why they need this information from you.
ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

Vishing:
 Vishing is the criminal practice of using social engineering over
the telephone system, most often using features facilitated by
VoIP, to gain access to personal and financial information from
the public for the purpose of financial reward. The term is a
combination of V – Voice and Phishing. Vishing is usually used to
steal credit card numbers or other related data used in ID theft
schemes from individuals. The most profitable uses of the
information gained through a Vishing attack include:
• ID theft
• Purchasing luxury goods and services
• Transferring money/funds
• Monitoring the victims‟ bank accounts
• Making applications for loans and credit cards
ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

How Vishing Works:

 The criminal can initiate a Vishing attack using a variety of
methods, each of which depends upon information gathered by a
criminal and criminal‟s will to reach a particular audience.
1 . Internet E-Mail: It is also called Phishing mail.
2. Mobile Text Messaging: Text is being messaged in Mobile.
3. Voicemail: Here, Victim is forced to call on the provided phone
number, once he/she listens to voice mail.
4. Direct phone Call: Following are the steps detailing on how
direct phone call works
• The criminal gathers cell/mobile phone numbers located and steals
mobile phone numbers after accessing cellular company.
• The criminal often uses a dialer to call phone numbers of people from a
specific region, and that to from the gathered list of phone numbers.
ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

• When the victim answers the call, an automated recorded message is

played to alert the victim that his/her credit card has had fraudulent
activity and/or his/her bank account has had unusual activity.
• The message instructs the victim to call one phone number immediately.
• The same phone number is often displayed in the spoofed caller ID,
under the name of the financial company the criminal is pretending to
represent.
• When the victim calls on the provided number, he/she is given
automated instructions to enter his/her credit card number or bank
account details with the help of phone keypad.
• Once the victim enters these details, the criminal (i.e., visher) has the
necessary information to make fraudulent use of the card or to access the
account.
• Such calls are often used to gain additional details such as date of birth,
credit card expiration date, etc.
 ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

Some of the examples of vished calls, when victim calls on the provided number
af ter receiving phished E-Mail and/or af ter listening voicemail, are as follows:
 1 . Automated message: Thank you for calling (name of local bank). Your
business is impor tant to us. To help you reach the correct representative and
answer your quer y fully, please press the appropriate number on your handset
af ter listening to options.
• Press 1 if you need to check your banking details and live balance.
• Press 2 if you wish to transfer funds.
• Press 3 to unlock your online profile.
• Press 0 for any other query.
 2. Regardless of what the victim enter s (i.e., presses the key), the automated
system prompts him to authenticate himself: “The security of each customer
is impor tant to us. To proceed fur ther, we require that you authenticate your
ID before proceeding. Please type your bank account number, followed by the
pound key.”
 3. The victim enter s his/her bank account number and hear s the next prompt:
“Thank you. Now please type your date of bir th, followed by the pound key. For
example 01 Januar y 1950 press 01011950.”
 4. The caller enter s his/her date of bir th and again receives a prompt from
the automated system : “Thank you. Now please type your PIN, followed by the
pound key.”
 5. The caller enter s his PIN and hears one last prompt from the system:
“Thank you. We will now transfer you to the appropriate representative” .
ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

How to Protect from Vishing Attacks:

 1 . Be suspicious about all unknown callers.
 2. Do not trust caller ID. It does not guarantee whether the call is
really coming from that number, that is, from the individual and/or
company – caller ID Spoofing is easy.
 3. Be aware and ask questions, in case someone is asking for your
personal or financial information.
 4. Call them back . If someone is asking you for your personal or
financial information, tell them that you will call them back
immediately to verify if the company is legitimate or not. In case
someone is calling from a bank and/or credit card company, call
them back using a number displayed on invoice and/or displayed on
website.
 5. Report incidents: Report Vishing calls to the nearest cyber police
cell with the number and name that appeared on the caller ID as
well as the time of day and the information talked about or heard in
a recorded message.
ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

 Smishing
 Smishing is a criminal offense conducted by using social
engineering techniques similar to Phishing. The name is derived
from “SMs phISHING”. SMS – Short Message Service – is the text
messages communication component dominantly used into
mobile phones.
 SMS can be abused by using different methods and techniques
other than information gathering under cybercrime. Smishing
uses cell phone text messages to deliver a lure message to get
the victim to reveal his/her PI. The popular technique to “hook”
the victim is either provide a phone number to force the victim to
call or provide a website URL to force the victim to access the
URL, wherein, the victim gets connected with bogus website (i.e.,
duplicate but fake site created by the criminal) and submits
his/her PI. Smishing works in the similar pattern as Vishing
ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

Pretexting
 It is also a form of social engineering, wherein a pretexter hides
his/her purpose and/or identity to get the personal
information/sensitive data about another individual. For
example. the pretexter may claim his/her af filiation with a
survey agency, financial institute or bank. Usually victims are
targeted over the phone and enticed to reveal their information
or perform on action.
Sexting
 It is the practice of sending sexually explicit text messages and
photos over the cell phone. It is becoming an increasingly hot
topic both in schools/colleges and in the workplace.
VoIP Spam
 VoIP Spam is the proliferation of unwanted. automatically dialed
and prerecorded phone calls using VoIP. Some pundits hove
token to referring to it as "Spam over Internet telephony" (SPIT).
ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

How to Protect from Smishing Attacks:

 1. Do not answer a text message that you have received asking for your PI.
Even if the message seems to be received from your best friend, do not
respond, because he/she may not be the one who has actually sent it.
 2. Avoid calling any phone numbers, as mentioned in the received message,
to cancel a membership and/or confirming a transaction which you have not
initiated but mentioned in the message. Always call on the numbers
displayed on the invoice and/or appearing in the bank
statements/passbook.
 3. Never click on a hot link received through message on your Smartphone
or PDA. Hot links are links that you can click, which will take you directly to
the Internet sites. Smishing messages may have hot links, wherein you click
on the link and download Spyware to your phone without knowing. Once this
software has been downloaded, criminals can easily steal any information
that is available on your cell phone and have access to everything that you
do on your cell phone.
 SMS Blocker: smsBlocker is powered with a unique intuitive
algorithm to detect and block Spam SMS automatically. However.
mobile user can also customize the filtering levels as per his/her
own privacy requirements.
ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

Hacking Bluetooth:
 Bluetooth is an open wireless technology standard used for
communication (i.e., exchanging data) over short distances (i.e.,
using short length radio waves) between fixed and/or mobile
device. Bluetooth is a short-range wireless communication
ser vice/technology that uses the 2.4-GHz frequency range for its
transmission/communication . The older standard – Bluetooth 1 .0
has a maximum transfer speed of 1 Mbps (megabit per second)
compared with 3 Mbps by Bluetooth 2.0.
 The attacker installs special software [Bluetooth hacking tools] on a
laptop and then installs Bluetooth antenna. Whenever an attacker
moves around public places, the software installed on laptop
constantly scans the nearby surroundings of the hacker for active
Bluetooth connections. Once the sof tware tool used by the attacker
finds and connects to a vulnerable Bluetooth-enabled cell phone, it
can do things like download address book information, photos,
calendars, SIM card details, make long-distance phone calls using
the hacked device, bug phone calls and much more.
ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

[Link] Name of the Tool Description

This tool enables to search for Bluetooth enable
device and will try to extract as much information as
1 BlueScanner
possible for each newly discovered device after
connecting it with the target.
This is a GUI-based utility for finding discoverable and
2 BlueSniff
hidden Bluetooth enabled devices.
The buggers exploit the vulnerability of the device and
3 BlueBugger access the images, phonebook, messages and other
personal information.
If a Bluetooth of a device is switched ON, then
Bluesnarfing makes it possible to connect to the
4 Bluesnarfer
phone without alerting the owner and to gain access
to restricted portions of the stored data.
Bluediving is testing Bluetooth penetration. It
5 BlueDiving
implements.
ATTACKS ON MOBILE/CELL PHONES

 Bluejacking, Bluesnarfing, Bluebugging and Car Whisperer are

common attacks that have emerged as Bluetooth-specific security
issues.
 Bluejacking: It means Bluetooth + Jacking where Jacking is short name for
hijack – act of taking over something. Bluejacking is sending unsolicited
messages over Bluetooth to Bluetooth-enabled devices such as mobile
phones, PDAs or computers (within 10-m radius), Bluejacking is harmless,
as bluejacked users generally do not understand what has happened and
hence they may think that their phone is malfunctioning.
 Bluesnarfing: It is the unauthorized access from a wireless device through a
Bluetooth connection between cell phones, PDAs and computers. This
enables the attacker to access a calendar, contact list, SMS and E-Mails as
well as enable attackers to copy pictures and private videos.
 Bluebugging: It allows attackers to remotely access a user‟s phone and use
its features without user‟s attention.
 Car Whisperer: It is a piece of software that allows attackers to send audio
to and receive audio from a Bluetooth-enabled car stereo.
 Among the four above-mentioned attacks, Bluesnar fing is claimed
to be much more serious than Bluejacking.
 MOBILE DEVICES: SECURIT Y
IMPLICATIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONS

Managing Diversity and Proliferation of Hand-Held Devices:

 Cybersecurity is always a primary concern to most organizations.
Most organizations fail to see the long-term significance of
keeping track of who owns what kind of mobile devices. Mobile
devices of employees should be registered in corporate asset
register irrespective of whether or not the devices have been
provided by the organization.
 In addition, close monitoring of these devices is required in
terms of their usage. When an employee leaves, it is important
to remove logical and physical access to organization networks.
Thus, mobile devices that belong to the company should be
returned to the IT department and, at the very least, should be
deactivated and cleansed.
 MOBILE DEVICES: SECURIT Y
IMPLICATIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONS
Unconventional/Stealth Storage Devices:
 Compact disks (CDs) and Univer sal Serial Bus (USB) drives (also called zip
drive, memor y sticks) used by employees are the key factor s for cyber
attacks. As the technology is advancing, the devices continue to decrease
in size and emerge in new shapes and sizes –storage devices available
nowadays are dif ficult to detect and have become a prime challenge for
organizational security. It is advisable to prohibit the employees in using
these devices.
 Not only can viruses, worms and Trojans get into the organization network ,
but can also destroy valuable data in the organization network .
 Organization has to have a policy in place to block these por ts while
issuing the asset to the employee.
 Employees can connect a USB/small digital camera/MP 3 player to the USB
por t of any unattended computer and will be able to download confidential
data or upload harmful viruses.
 As the malicious attack is launched from within the organization, firewalls
and antivirus sof tware are not aler ted.
 Using “DeviceLock” sof tware solution, one can have control over
unauthorized access to plug and play devices.
 MOBILE DEVICES: SECURIT Y
IMPLICATIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONS

 The features of the software allows system administrator to:

 Monitor which users or groups can access USB Ports, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
adapters, CD read-only memories (CD-ROMs) and other removable
devices.
 Control the access to devices depending on the time of the day and day
of the week.
 Create the white list of USB devices which allows you to authorize only
specific devices that will not be locked regardless of any other settings.
 Set devices in read-only mode.
 Protect disks from accidental or intentional formatting.
 MOBILE DEVICES: SECURIT Y
IMPLICATIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONS

Threats through Lost & Stolen Devices:

 This is a new emerging issue for cybersecurity. Often mobile
hand-held devices are lost while people are on the move. Lost
mobile devices are becoming even a larger security risk to
corporations. The cybersecurity threat under this scenario is
scary; owing to a general lack of security in mobile devices, it is
often not the value of the hand-held device that is important but
rather the content that, if lost or stolen, can put a company at a
serious risk of sabotage, exploitation or damage to its
professional integrity, as most of the times the mobile hand-held
devices are provided by the organization.
 Most of these lost devices have wireless access to a corporate
network and have potentially very little security, making them a
weak link and a major headache for security administrators.
 MOBILE DEVICES: SECURIT Y
IMPLICATIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONS
Protecting Data on Lost Devices:
 At an individual level, employees need to worry about the
importance of data protection especially when it resided on a
mobile hand-held device. There are two reasons why cybersecurity
needs to address this issue
 Data that is persistently stored on the device
 Always running applications
 For protecting data that are stored on the device, there are two
precautions that individual can take to prevent disclosure of the
data stored on a mobile device:
 Encrypting sensitive data
 Encrypting the entire file system
 A key point here is that the organizations should have a clear policy
on how to respond to the loss or thef t of a device, whether it is data
storage, a PDA or a laptop. There should be a method for the device
owner to quickly report the loss & device owners should be aware of
this method.
 MOBILE DEVICES: SECURIT Y
IMPLICATIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONS

Educating the Laptop Users:

 Often it so happens that corporate laptop users could be putting
their company‟s networks at risk by downloading non-work-
related software capable of spreading viruses and spyware. This
is because the software assets on laptops become more complex
as more applications are used on an increasingly sophisticated
OS with diverse connectivity options. The perception plays much
role in terms of most people perceiving laptops as greater
culprits compared with other innocuous-looking mobile hand-
held devices.
 MOBILE DEVICES: SECURIT Y
IMPLICATIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONS

Fig: Most important management or support Issues for laptops.

 ORGANIZATIONAL MEASURES FOR
HANDLING MOBILE
DEVICES-RELATED SECURIT Y ISSUES
Encr ypting Organizational Databases:
 Critical and sensitive data reside on databases and with the
advances in technology, access to these data is not impossible
through hand-held devices. It is clear that to protect the
organization‟s data loss, such databases need encryption. Two
algorithms that are typically used to implement strong encr yption of
database files:
 Rijndael (pronounced Rain-dahl or Rhine-doll), a block encryption algorithm,
chosen as the new Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) for block ciphers by
the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
 The other algorithm used to implement strong encryption of database files
is the Multi-Dimensional Space Rotation (MDSR) algorithm developed by
Casio.
 Strong encryption means that it is much harder to break, but it also
has a significant impact on per formance. Database file encryption
technology, using either the AES (or) MDSR algorithms, makes the
database inoperable without the key (password).
 ORGANIZATIONAL MEASURES FOR
HANDLING MOBILE
DEVICES-RELATED SECURIT Y ISSUES
 When using strong encryption, it is important not to store the
key on the mobile devices, which is equivalent to leaving a key in
a locked door. However if you lose the key, data is completely
inaccessible. The key is case sensitive and must be entered
correctly to access the database.
 For greater security there is an option available that instructs
the database server to display a dialog box where the user can
enter the encryption key. This option is necessary because the
encryption key should not be entered on the machine in clear
text.
 To protect the scenario of information attack/stealing through
the mobile devices connecting to the corporate databases,
additional security measures are possible through enforcing a
self-destruct policy that is controlled from the server. When a
device that is identified or stolen connects to the organization
server, IT department can have the server send a package to
destroy privileged data on the device.
 ORGANIZATIONAL MEASURES FOR
HANDLING MOBILE
DEVICES-RELATED SECURIT Y ISSUES
Including Mobile Devices in Security Strategy:
 Organizational IT departments will have to take the
accountability for cybersecurity threats that come through
inappropriate access to organizational data from mobile-device–
user employees. Encryption of corporate databases is not the
end of everything.
 They fear the loss of sensitive data that could result from a PDA
being stolen or an unsecured wireless connection being used.
There are technologies available to properly secure mobile
devices, which are enough for most organizations.
 Although mobile devices do pose unique challenges from a
cybersecurity perceptive, there are some genera steps that the
users can take to address them such as integrating security
programs for mobile and wireless systems into the overall
security blue print.
 ORGANIZATIONAL MEASURES FOR
HANDLING MOBILE
DEVICES-RELATED SECURIT Y ISSUES
 A few things that organization can use are:
 Implement strong asset management, virus checking, loss prevention
and other controls for mobile systems that will prohibit unauthorized
access and the entry of corrupted data.
 Investigate alternatives that allow a secure access to the company
information through a firewall, such as mobile VPNs.
 Develop a system of more frequent and thorough security audits for
mobile devices.
 Incorporate security awareness into your mobile training and support
programs so that everyone understands just how important an issue
security is within a company‟s overall IT strategy.
 Notify the appropriate law-enforcement agency and change passwords.
User accounts are closely monitored for any unusual activity for a period
of time.
 ORGANIZATIONAL SECURIT Y
POLICIES AND MEASURES IN
MOBILE COMPUTING ERA
Impor tance of Security Policies relating to Mobile Computing Devices:
 Growth of mobile devices used makes the cyber security issue harder than
what we would tend to think .
 People (especially, the youth) have grown so used to their mobiles that
they are treating them like wallets! For example, people are storing more
types of confidential information on mobile computing devices than their
employer s or they themselves know; they listen to music using their hand-
held devices
 One should think about not to keep credit card and bank account number s,
passwords, confidential E-Mails and strategic information about
organization & also other valuable information that could impact stock
values in the mobile devices. Ex. Imagine the business impact if an
employee‟s USB, pluggable drive or laptop was lost or stolen, revealing the
sensitive customer data such as credit repor ts, Social Security Number s
(SSNs) & contact information . This not only the Public Relations (PR)
disaster, but it could also violate laws & regulations.
 When controls cannot be implemented to protect data in the event they
are stolen, the simplest solution is to prevent user s from storing
proprietar y information on platforms deemed to be insuf ficiently secure.
 ORGANIZATIONAL SECURIT Y
POLICIES AND MEASURES IN
MOBILE COMPUTING ERA
Operating Guidelines for Implementing Mobile Device Security
Policies:
 By using the following steps we can reduce the risk when mobile
device lost or stolen
 Determine whether the employees in the organization need to use mobile
computing devices or not.
 Implement additional security technologies like strong encryption, device
passwords and physical locks.
 Standardize the mobile computing devices and the associated security tools
being used with them.
 Develop a specific framework for using mobile computing devices.
 Maintain an inventory so that you know who is using what kinds of devices.
 Establish patching procedures for software on mobile devices.
 Label the devices and register them with a suitable service.
 Establish procedures to disable remote access for any mobile.
 Remove data from computing devices that are not in use
 Provide education and awareness training to personnel using mobile
devices.
 ORGANIZATIONAL SECURIT Y
POLICIES AND MEASURES IN
MOBILE COMPUTING ERA
Organizational Policies for the Use of Mobile Hand-Held Devices:
 There are many ways to handle the matter of creating policy for
mobile devices.
 One way is creating a distinct mobile computing policy.
 Another way is including such devices under existing policy.
 There are also approaches in between, where mobile devices fall
under both existing general policies and a new one. There may
not be a need for separate policies for wireless, LAN, WAN etc.
because a properly written network policy can cover all
connections to the company data, including mobiles & wireless.
 LAPTOPS

 Laptops, like other mobile devices, enhance the business

functions. Their mobile access to information anytime and
anywhere, they also pose a large threat as they are portable.
Wireless capability in these devices has also raised cybersecurity
concerns owing to the information being transmitted over other,
which makes it hard to detect.
 The thefts of laptops have always been a major issue, according
to the cybersecurity industry and insurance company statistics.
Cybercriminals are targeting laptops that are expensive, to
enable them to fetch a quick profit in the black market. Most
laptops contain personal and corporate information that could
be sensitive. Such information can be misused if found by a
malicious user.
 LAPTOPS

 Physical Security Countermeasures:

1. Cables and hardwired locks: The most cost-efficient and ideal solution to
safeguard any mobile device is securing with cables and locks, specially
designed for laptops.
2. Laptop safes: Safes made of polycarbonate – the same material that is used
in bulletproof windows, police riot shields and bank security screens – can be
used to carry and safeguard the laptops
3. Motion sensors and alarms: Alarms and motion sensors are very efficient in
securing laptops. Once these devices are activated, they can be used to track
missing laptops in crowded places. Modern alarm systems for laptops are
designed wherein the alarm device attached to the laptop transmits radio
signals to a certain range around the laptop. The owner of the laptop has a key
ring device that communicates with the laptop alarm device. The alarm is
triggered when the distance between the laptop alarm device & the key ring
device crosses the specified range.
4. Warning labels and stamps: Warning labels containing tracking information
and identification details can be fixed onto the laptop to deter aspiring thieves.
These labels cannot be removed easily and are a low-cost solution to a laptop
theft. These labels have an identification number that is stored in universal
database for verification, which in turn makes the resale of stolen laptops a
difficult process.
 LAPTOPS

 5. Other measures for protecting laptops are as follows:

 Engraving the laptop with personal details
 Keeping the laptop close to oneself wherever possible
 Carrying the laptop in a different and unobvious bag
 Creating the awareness among the employees about the sensitive information
contained in the laptop
 Making a copy of the purchase receipt of laptop, serial number & description of
laptop
 Installing encryption software to protect information stored on the laptop
 Using personal firewall software to block unwanted access and intrusion
 Updating the antivirus software regularly
 Tight office security using security guards and securing the laptop by locking it down
in lockers when not in use
 Never leaving the laptop unattended in public places
 Disabling IR ports and wireless cards when not in use
 Choosing a secure OS
 Registering the laptop with the laptop manufacturer to track down the laptop in case
of theft
 Disabling unnecessary user accounts and renaming the administrator account
 Backing up data on a regular basis
 LAPTOPS

 A few logical access controls are as follows:

 Protecting from malicious programs/attackers/social engineering
 Avoiding weak passwords/open access
 Monitoring application security and scanning for vulnerabilities
 Ensuring that unencrypted data/unprotected fi le systems do not pose
threats
 Proper handling of removable drives/storage mediums/unnecessary ports
 Password protection through appropriate passwords rules and use of strong
passwords
 Locking down unwanted ports/devices
 Regularly installing security patches and updates
 Installing antivirus software/firewalls/intrusion detection system (IDSs)
 Encrypting critical file systems
 Other countermeasures:
 Choosing a secure OS that has been tested & has high security incorporated into it
 Registering the laptop with the laptop manufacturer to track down the laptop in
case of theft
 Disabling unnecessary user accounts & renaming the administrator account
 Disabling display of the last logged in username in the login dialog box
 Backing up data on a regular basis