Smart phones, dumb users

Computer criminals are turning their attention to mobile phones. Image: chanpipat Free Digital Photos

According to the 2013 Norton Report there were 378m cyber crime victims in 24 countries in the past 12 months. The worldwide cost of these crimes was US$113bn, up from US$110bn the previous year.

Increasing dependence on smartphones has made their users prime targets of cyber criminals.

The 2013 GSM African Mobile Observatory report said 87.4% of Internet browsing in South Africa is on cellphones. But, according to the Norton report, smartphone users do not take the precautions necessary to prevent criminals from accessing their phones or the valuable information stored on them.

As a result, 47% of South African smartphone users have fallen victim to cyber crime in the past year.

The report found that 78% of South African men had been victims of cyber crime. Men were more likely to engage in "risky" behaviour, such as using their phone for gambling and watching porn and not taking adequate precautions when accessing public Wi-Fi networks.

Sophisticated attacks

The report says attacks launched using 'ransomware' or 'mobileadware' ("madware"), and 'spearphising', are becoming increasingly sophisticated and are yielding more cash per attack.

Ransomware enters a computer system piggy-backing on a download and locks the user out of the device.

Nearly a quarter of survey respondents said they had been a victim of madware, making this form of attack one of the most common on smartphone users.

Basie von Solms, a researcher at the Academy for Computer Science and Software Engineering at the University of Johannesburg, said cyber criminals were developing more sophisticated forms of malware and antivirus software was having a hard time keeping pace.

"Cyberspace is like America's old wild west. You take a risk every time you use a smartphone," he said.

Symantec, which distributes Norton antivirus software, said the best protection against cyber crime was the use of antivirus programs, buying apps only from reputable vendors, being wary of supplying personal information and never clicking on e-mailed link.

Source: The Times via I-Net Bridge