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Safety Technologies:
F-Secure Mobile Filter protects
from threats
MOBILE PHONES COULD CATCH A NASTY VIRUS
Up till now mobile phones have been unbelievably secure,
especially when compared with personal computers. It is rare
for a mobile telephone to be jammed. Nor have telephones suffered
from viruses, at least not to epidemic proportions. But all
that could change.
At the same time as telephones are processing a wider range
of data, the threats are also growing. Quite simply, when
telephones’ data processing capacity and memory grow,
so do the possibilities of problems.
The private user does not need to worry yet, but it would
be a good idea for telecom operators and content distributors
to prepare themselves for the time when the first security
threats are made.
Be prepared
F-Secure, a Finnish software company which specializes in
data security, has already been making anti-virus software
for equipment that uses Symbian and Pocket PC. The company
also has the patent for anti-virus update sent as a text message.
As most mobile phones are still using closed operating systems,
there must be security against harmful content on the network.
That is why F-Secure has introduced the F-Secure Mobile Filter,
which guarantees that the software segments downl oaded into
a telephone are secure and compatible.
“This is actually insurance for telecom operators and
service providers. There haven’t been any major problems
yet, but when that moment does come, you must be prepared
for it. Otherwise the chaos may turn out to be really expensive,”
says Antti Vihavainen, the business manager at F-Secure.
Vihavainen says that the data security departments at telecom
operators have recently woken up to the possible threats.
Compatibility a problem
Almost all the new mobile phones support Java, and applications
for them can be downloaded from the network. The popularity
of the software products downloaded from a network will increase
rapidly as new Java marketplaces increase. In the new Java
distribution model many independent software suppliers will
offer their applications to mobile telephone users through
a service provider.
These marketplaces will use applications from independent
software developers. Operators have generally been self-sufficient
and not accepted other content providers on their own networks.
The situation is now changing.
In the initial stages especially, a much greater threat than
viruses is what software segment operates on what equipment.
If a user downloads software that paralyzes his entire telephone,
the user’s trust in the operator will be shaken. For
that reason the F-Secure Mobile Filter compares the application
with information about the telephone’s properties and
ensures that the program will operate on the downloader’s
telephone before the downloading can take place.
“Standard-Java is secure, but it’s also restricted
in terms of its programming possibilities. That’s why
extensions are added to it to make it more attractive. All
those who offer applications will not necessarily test their
codes on different equipment, not even necessarily on those
on which they promise it will work,” Vihavainen admits.
About ten viruses
“Although in the initial stages compatibility is a big
problem, it’ll be interesting to see in which direction
the situation develops when compatibility improves. It may
be that viruses and other programmes with harmful intent will
then be F-Secure Mobile Filter’s main target,” Vihavainen
muses.
So far only about ten viruses or software code segments that
can cause damage in other ways to mobile terminals have been
observed around the world. Because of the equipment’s
properties they have not been able to spread over a wide area
yet. “There are three preconditions for the threat to
materialize: sufficient processing power, large enough population
and the phones need to be able to connect to each other,”
Vihavainen explains.
The F-Secure Mobile Filter is updated automatically 24 hours
a day, seven days a week. Updating the virus data banks is
handled by F-Secure’s Anti-Virus Research department.
F-Secure was established in 1988 and is quoted on the Helsinki
Stock Exchange. The company’s head office is in Helsinki
and operations in North America are led from San Jose. The
company also has offices in Germany, Sweden, Japan and Great
Britain. F-Secure’s products are sold in more than 90
countries.
Published 2002
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