Why mobile security matters a whole lot more this year

The clock is ticking on the annual RSA Conference, to be held in San Francisco on the 25th of February. Many of you might know or would like to know the conference’s tag line: Where The World Talks Security.

This year, the focus, unsurprisingly, is on mobile security. Last year, mobile malware was up a reported 185%. Yes, you read it right, 185%.

By most analysts’ reckoning, that is still a conservative figure and one that could sharply rise this year unless enterprise CIOs quickly wake up and act against the growing threat.

There is good reason why the mobile threat is exploding. Every worker in the developed world – and nearly every one in the developing world too – sports a mobile at work. What is more, many of them connect to the company network.

Clearly, many CIOs are aware of the mobile threat – but, strangely perhaps, unwilling to closely examine the enormous security implications to their networks. This could be because of budgetary factors, and even a dangerous perception that it’s only the others that are at risk.

So, I am going to focus on the theme, “What I could lose?” with the goal of raising awareness about the enterprise risks from mobile devices.

#1. Network and data security. If even one infected mobile device connects to your enterprise network, it could jeopardise the security of the entire network and all data. You could end up compromising the network, leading perhaps to drastic network failures and, worse, loss of confidential and proprietary data.

#2. Man-in-the-middle attacks. This is a weapon of choice for hackers. Literally, a man-in-the-middle attack interjects itself between a mobile device and your network, accessing all the data that is exchanged including user names, passwords and credit card numbers. Typically, this occurs when users sign on to open Wi-fi networks such as those found at coffee shops and airports.

#3. Jailbreakme. Jailbreakme.com was initially created to break in the iPhone and install unauthorised apps. But jailbreaking undermines the smartphone operating system, opening up risks of potential infections by malware. Jailbreaking can be used to execute commands on the device, and even act as a Trojan.

For example, a hacker can take a regular version of the popular game, ‘Angry Birds,’ and stitch a malicious code into it. Similarly, exploiting a client side vulnerability, a MitM attack could redirect you to a malicious site and the results could be just as bad.

#4. Malicious mails. Malicious emails or PDF attachments purportedly from people in your address book (maybe even your boss) can trick you into clicking on dubious links. Such mails with malicious code can then intercept and access all data in your phone.

I will sign off by introducing you to zIPS™, a comprehensive security suite for smart mobile devices. Zimperium’s Mobile Intrusion Prevention Systems protects against network attacks, targeted attacks and malicious applications from compromising the device. Look up more about this here.

On the 27th of July, Zimperium attended the famous “BlackHat” Briefings in Las Vegas, a computer security conference that brings together a variety of people interested in information security. Representatives of federal agencies and corporations attend along with hackers.
During the Briefings, the company had a booth to display the new capabilities of zAnti, their mobile pen-testing tool.

zANTI, also known as Android Network Toolkit, is an award-winning Mobile Penetration Testing software specially built for smartphones and the first of its kind for mobile devices.

The revolutionary software is the winner of the renowned PCMag Editor’s Choice Award and the THN Tool of the Year award. zANTI has been hailed by popular technology media such as Engadget and Forbes and won acclaim from the worldwide security community.The easiest way to download zANTI is to scan the following QR code

to directly install Android Network Toolkit on your Android.

, another way to do so is to submit it directly to your email and later on complete the installation via your phone by clicking on the download link.

Some would recognize the very scary Zanti in “The Zanti Misfits,” from the 1963 television show, “The Outer Limits.” Watch it on Youtube in the end of the page.

Our own zANTI — as you can imagine — is designed not to scare, but to secure our mobile world and make it safer for you. The release version of the beta, which was codenamed ANTI, or Android Network Toolkit, has come after almost a year of testing by about 100,000 users.

We first created ANTI to demonstrate that smartphones are the equal of computers in the way penetration testers/IT managers can use for their daily tasks. Soon enough, ANTI became one of the most used smartphone apps among pentesters and security enthusiasts that wanted a simple tool to provide them real-time status of their network security.

We chose a new name for the release version, from the tens of different variations. With the naming protocol of our other products — zCore IPS, zDefender and zAppliance — it only made sense to call it zANTI.

zANTI boosts the normative IT security toolbox and enables you to run a complete vulnerabilities scan on your network with the click of a button. You can also get a visual status of the devices connected to the same physical network.

Here is a longer list of zANTI’s powerful features:

• Common vulnerabilities search
• Cloud-based report to fix recognized vulnerabilities including wise analysis for critical
• flaws
• Password audit to check for password complexity
• Audit password complexity in a specific device or entire LAN
• Detect misconfiguration of device firewall by detecting open ports
• Check network vulnerability to MITM and common client side and server side vulnerabilities
• Discover insecure traffic and cookies affecting network’s privacy settings.
• Alert network vulnerability to MITM attacks by demonstrating live modification of unsecured communication’s images
• Visualise network by watching live photo feeds, recorded from unsecured network
• Communication
• WiFi monitor to benchmark nearby networks

Scan the QR code to download zANTI