I am hoping you are able to read over and correct my paper. I would appreciate any
Question:
I am hoping you are able to read over and correct my paper. I would appreciate any changes or additions you would recommend making for an additional reference and a fresh perspective. So far, I have:
Mobile attacks
There are multiple entry points hackers might use to compromise mobile devices. This includes the possibility of malicious apps, assaults at the network level, and the use of vulnerabilities present in both the devices and the mobile operating system. Mobile devices are receiving a greater amount of attention from hackers as a direct result of their increasing importance. These are known as mobile attacks.
Type of mobile attacks/threats
1. Malicious Apps and Websites
Mobile devices, similar to desktop computers, are equipped with software and can connect to the internet. Mobile malware, also known as malicious programs, and malicious websites, are able to achieve the same goals on mobile phones as they do on traditional computers. These goals include stealing data, encrypting data, and other similar activities.
There is a wide range of malicious software that may be downloaded as an app. Trojans that carry out ad and click fraud are the most popular types of harmful mobile applications.
2. Mobile Ransomware
Mobile ransomware is a subcategory of mobile malware. However, as the use of mobile devices for professional purposes has become more widespread, mobile ransomware has become a more prevalent and harmful kind of mobile malware. Mobile ransomware is software that encrypts files on a mobile device and then demands a payment in exchange for the decryption key in order to regain access to the material that was encrypted.
3. Phishing
One of the most popular forms of attack vectors now in existence is phishing. The majority of cyberattacks start with a phishing email that contains either a link to a website hosting malware or an attachment that itself contains malware. Phishing attacks may be carried out on mobile devices using a range of channels, including as email, SMS messaging, social networking platforms, and other apps. These channels are used to distribute malicious links and software.
In fact, even though emails are the first thing that most people think of when they hear the term "phishing," they are not even close to being the most prevalent vector for phishing attacks on mobile devices. In fact, emails are responsible for just 15% of mobile phishing assaults, which places them behind social networking, messaging, and "other" applications (not social, messaging, gaming, or productivity).
4. Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Attacks
An attacker can carry out a Man-in-the-Middle attack, also known as a MitM attack, by intercepting network connections in order to either listen in on or alter the data that is being broadcast. Even while assaults of this kind could be feasible on a variety of platforms, man-in-the-middle attacks are particularly dangerous for mobile devices. SMS communications, on the other hand, may be intercepted with relative ease, and mobile applications may utilize unencrypted HTTP to send information that could be considered sensitive. Web traffic, on the other hand, often communicates via HTTPS, which is encrypted.
An employee must be connected to an untrusted or hacked network for a MitM attack to be successful. Examples of these networks include public Wi-Fi and cellular networks. However, most enterprises do not have rules that ban the usage of these networks, which makes it fully possible for an assault of this nature to occur in the absence of protective measures such as a virtual private network (VPN).
5. Advanced Jailbreaking and Rooting Techniques
Gaining administrative access to a mobile device running iOS or Android is referred to as "jailbreaking" and "rooting," respectively. In order to get root access to these devices, these sorts of attacks make use of vulnerabilities that are present in mobile operating systems. When compared to the restricted rights that are provided by default, these expanded permissions make it possible for an attacker to obtain access to a greater amount of data and to inflict more harm. This assault is made considerably simpler to carry out as a result of the large number of mobile users who jailbreak or root their own devices. This gives them the ability to remove undesired default programs or install apps from app stores that they do not fully trust.
6. Device and OS exploits
The top layer of software is often where the emphasis of cybersecurity efforts is directed. Nevertheless, lower levels of the software stack may also include vulnerabilities and may also be targets of attacks. An adversary can take advantage of flaws in mobile operating systems (OS) or in the device itself when it comes to mobile devices, just as they do with computers. Because they operate underneath and are invisible to the device's security measures, these vulnerabilities are frequently more devastating than higher-level ones. This is because they are able to get access to the device.
7. Bank trojans. This malware type commonly masquerades as a legitimate application. It tends to affect users who are just going about their personal banking activities from mobile devices. Banking trojans generally aim to steal credentials.
8. Remote Access Tools (RATs). These are typically used for intelligence collection purposes. RATs can gather installed application information, call history data, address books, web browsing history and SMS data. Further, RATs can be used to send SMS messages, to enable device cameras and to log GPS data.
9. Adware. This type of malware enables an attacker to hijack a device in order to generate income via fake ad clicks.
10. Crypto mining Malware. This type of malware allows attackers to execute calculations on a victim's device - enabling them to generate cryptocurrency. Crypto mining is often conducted via Trojan code that's surreptitiously lurking in legitimate-seeming applications.
The increase of mobile attacks
Smartphones, or mobile phones with advanced capabilities like those of personal computers (PCs), are appearing in more people's pockets, purses, and briefcases. Smartphones' popularity and relatively lax security have made them attractive targets for attackers. According to a report published earlier this year, smartphones recently outsold PCs for the first time, and attackers have been exploiting this expanding market by using old techniques along with new ones. One example is this year's Valentine's Day attack, in which attackers distributed a mobile picture-sharing application that secretly sent premium-rate text messages from the user's mobile phone. One study found that, from 2009 to 2010, the number of new vulnerabilities in mobile operating systems jumped 42 percent. The number and sophistication of attacks on mobile phones is increasing, and countermeasures are slow to catch up. Smartphones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) give users mobile access to email, the internet, GPS navigation, and many other applications. However, smartphone security has not kept pace with traditional computer security. Technical security measures, such as firewalls, antivirus, and encryption, are uncommon on mobile phones, and mobile phone operating systems are not updated as frequently as those on personal computers. Mobile social networking applications sometimes lack the detailed privacy controls of their PC counterparts. Unfortunately, many smartphone users do not recognize these security shortcomings. Many users fail to enable the security software that comes with their phones, and they believe that surfing the internet on their phones is as safe as or safer than surfing on their computers. Meanwhile, mobile phones are becoming more and more valuable as targets for attack. People are using smartphones for an increasing number of activities and often store sensitive data, such as email, calendars, contact information, and passwords, on the devices. Mobile applications for social networking keep a wealth of personal information. Recent innovations in mobile commerce have enabled users to conduct many transactions from their smartphones, such as purchasing goods and applications over wireless networks, redeeming coupons and tickets, banking, processing point-of-sale payments, and even paying at cash registers.
Here are statistics on the increase in mobile attacks.
- The NSO group's Pegasus spyware remains the most notorious of commercial phone malware/spyware varieties, but new findings indicate that Predator spyware could target tens of thousands of Android phones.
- Banking malware threats on Android devices have increased by 80%, meaning that strong phone security is more important than ever before.
- Last year, adware accounted for 42% of new mobile malware worldwide. How's your adware protection?
- 47% of free Android antivirus programs can't effectively detect malware. Are your BYOD employees relying on free antivirus programs?
- There are 50 times more Android mobile malware infections than iOS infections. 50X!
- Mobile malware apps that provide backdoors into phones are currently spreading via SMS or text messaging.
- Some cyber criminals are paying a monthly fee of $5,000 to rent an app that steals access credentials from hundreds of other fraudulent apps.
- 97% of organizations have contended with malware threats that leverage various attack vectors.
- Cyber security researchers recently devised a malware threat that can persist on iPhones even when the devices run in low-power mode.
- During Q1 of 2022, security programs successfully blocked 6,463,414 mobile malware, adware, and riskware attacks.
What all can someone find out or malicious activities that can be done from the information?
It's possible that many users place a lower priority on the security of their mobile phones compared to the security of their personal computers; nonetheless, the repercussions of an assault on a mobile phone can be just as serious. When infected with malicious software, a mobile phone is more likely to become part of a "botnet," which is a network of devices that may be controlled by an adversary. In addition, malicious software has the ability to conduct other destructive actions and convey information about the device to attackers. Mobile phones have the potential to infect personal computers when they are linked to such computers. It used to be that losing a mobile phone meant merely losing the contact information, call records, text messages, and sometimes images stored on the device. Nevertheless, in more recent years, the loss of a smartphone has also put at risk the financial information that is saved on the device in banking and payment applications, as well as the usernames and passwords that are needed to access apps and online services. In the event that the user's phone is lost or stolen, the information might be used by thieves to get into the user's bank account or credit card account. An adversary might also take, make public, or sell any personal information that was retrieved from the device. This includes information about the user, information about contacts, and GPS position data. Even if the victim is successful in retrieving the device, they may continue to be the target of phishing scams in the future and continue to get a large number of spam emails and SMS/MMS messages. Before a user is permitted to log into the website of a particular personal or commercial service, that service may perform an additional step of authentication, such as phoning the user on their cell phone or delivering an additional password through text message. A mobile phone that has been stolen brings the intruder one step closer to accessing the services under the identity of the user. If the attacker gains access to the device, they will have everything they need to access the service, if the device includes the owner's username and password for the service.
The number of attacks/ damages that can be or have been done by mobile attackers
Recent Cyber Attacks
As data breaches become more pervasive in our interconnected world so must our understanding of modern-day cyber-attacks.
- 2022 - The ZLoader botnet responsible for distributing the ZLoader malware was taken down in a joint effort with Microsoft, ESET, Black Lotus Labs, Palo Alto Networks, HealthISAC, and Financial Services-ISAC.
- 2022 - On May 8th, 2022 the a national emergency was declared due to an ongoing Conti ransomware attack against several Costa Rican government entities.
- 2021 - Kaseya suffered a ransomware attack compromising up to 1500 companies with a staggering ransom note of $70 million.
- 2021 - Saudi Aramco experienced a data breach exposing sensitive data on employees and technical specifications of the organization. Threat group ZeroX is demanding a payment of $50 million.
- 2021 - The Accellion file transfer application (FTA) data breach impacted over 100 companies, organizations, universities, and government agencies around the world.
- 2021 - The Pulse Secure VPN zero-day was exploited resulting in the breach of several undisclosed defense firms and government organizations in the United States and Europe.
- 2021 - Solarwinds fell victim to a nation-state supply chain attack impacting government agencies and fortune 500 companies.
- 2020 - Spartanburg County School District was the victim of a ransomware attack on February 26th. As a result, internet connectivity and network access was shut off for three days. Although no data was compromised, the district did lose all online access.
- 2020 - Tillamook County commissioners negotiate for an encryption key to regain control of the government's computer systems after falling victim to a ransomware attack.
- 2020 - Universal Health Services reports an information technology security incident. Malware, specifically the Ryuk ransomware, which targeted 400 hospitals in the US and the UK. UHS has over 90,000 employees who provide healthcare services to roughly 3.5 million patients every year.
- 2020 - Duesseldorf University Hospital is infected with ransomware, resulting in the first death reported following a ransomware attack.
- 2020 - The hotel chain Marriott disclosed a security breach that impacted the data of more than 5.2 million hotel guests who used their company's loyalty application.
- 2020 - MGM Resorts suffered a massive data breach resulting in the leak of 142 million personal details of hotel guests.
- 2020 - 500,000 stolen Zoom passwords available for sale in dark web crime forums.
- 2020 - Magellan Health was struck by a ransomware attack and data breach stating that 365,000 patients were affected in the sophisticated cyberattack.
- 2020 - Twitter breach well-coordinated scam made attackers swindle $121,000 in Bitcoin through nearly 300 transactions.
- 2019 - Maryland Department of Labor was breached by hackers who illegally accessed names and social security numbers belonging to 78,000 people.
- 2019 - Captical One recently had over 106 million records stolen containing personal and financial information.
- 2018 - After falling victim to the SamSam malware, the city of Atlanta, Georgia refused to pay the $50,000 ransom and instead spent more than $5 million rebuilding its computer network.
- 2018 - Cyber attackers hacked into Marriot international computer systems and compromised five hundred million accounts.
- 2018 - Cathy pacific was hacked and 9.4 million accounts were compromised.
- 2018 - Facebook code was exploited by attackers and 50 million user accounts were compromised.
- 2018 - Quora was hacked and information belonging to 100million users was compromised.
- 2018 - Under Armor reported that its "My Fitness Pal" was hacked, affecting 150 million users.
- 2017 - Uber network was breached compromising data of fifty million riders, seven million drivers and 600,000 US based driver license details.
- 2017 - Cyber attackers hacked into Equifax servers and exposed over 143 million consumers' personal information.
- 2017 - 412 million user accounts were stolen from Friendfinder's sites.
- 2017 - 147.9 million consumers were affected by the Equifax Breach.
- 2016 - Peace cyber-attackers hacked Myspace compromising over 360 million accounts.
- 2016 - Uber reported that hackers stole the information of over 57 million riders and drivers.
- 2015 - Hackers broke into Anthem Inc. servers and stole 37.5 million records consisting of sensitive information.
- 2015 - Peace a Russian based Cyber-attack group infiltrated LinkedIn stealing email and password combinations of over 117 million customers.
- 2014 - Syrian Electronic Army cyber hacking group infiltrated eBay's network stealing sensitive information of one hundred and forty-five million users.
- 2013 - Cyber criminals hacked Yahoo's 3 billion email accounts gaining access to sensitive customer information.
- 2013 - Cyber attackers used malware to steal data from Target company point of sale systems compromising information of approximately one hundred and ten million credit/debit carrying customers.
Ways to prevent mobile attacks
Although mobile phones are taking on more capabilities formerly available only on PCs, technical security solutions for mobile phones are not as sophisticated or widespread as those for PCs. This means that the bulk of mobile phone security relies on the user making intelligent, cautious choices. Even the most careful users can still fall victim to attacks on their mobile phones. However, following best practices regarding mobile phone security can reduce the likelihood or consequences of an attack.
- When choosing a mobile phone, consider its security features. Ask the service provider if the device offers file encryption, the ability for the provider to find and wipe the device remotely, the ability to delete known malicious apps remotely, and authentication features such as device access passwords. If you back up your phone data to a PC, look for an option to encrypt the backup. If you plan to use the device for VPN access, as some users do to access work networks, ask the provider if the device supports certificate-based authentication.
- Configure the device to be more secure. Many smartphones have a password feature that locks the device until the correct PIN or password is entered. Enable this feature, and choose a reasonably complex password. Enable encryption, remote wipe capabilities, and antivirus software if available.
- Configure web accounts to use secure connections. Accounts for certain websites can be configured to use secure, encrypted connections (look for "HTTPS" or "SSL" in account options pages). Enabling this feature deters attackers from eavesdropping on web sessions. Many popular mail and social networking sites include this option.
- Do not follow links sent in suspicious email or text messages. Such links may lead to malicious websites.
- Limit exposure of your mobile phone number. Think carefully before posting your mobile phone number to a public website. Attackers can use software to collect mobile phone numbers from the web and then use those numbers to target attacks.
- Carefully consider what information you want stored on the device. Remember that with enough time, sophistication, and access to the device, any attacker could obtain your stored information.
- Be choosy when selecting and installing apps. By doing a little research on apps before installing them. Check what permissions the app requires. If the permissions seem beyond what the app should require, do not install the app; it could be a Trojan horse, carrying malicious code in an attractive package.
- Maintain physical control of the device, especially in public or semi-public places. The portability of mobile phones makes them easy to lose or steal.
- Disable interfaces that are not currently in use, such as Bluetooth, infrared, or WiFi. Attackers can exploit vulnerabilities in software that use these interfaces.
- Set Bluetooth-enabled devices to non-discoverable. When in discoverable mode, your Bluetooth-enabled devices are visible to other nearby devices, which may alert an attacker or infected device to target you. When in non-discoverable mode, your Bluetooth-enabled devices are invisible to other unauthenticated devices.
- Avoid joining unknown Wi-Fi networks and using public Wi-Fi hotspots. Attackers can create phony Wi-Fi hotspots designed to attack mobile phones and may patrol public Wi-Fi networks for unsecured devices. Also, enable encryption on your home Wi-Fi network.
- Delete all information stored in a device prior to discarding it. Check the website of the device's manufacturer for information about securely deleting data. Your mobile phone provider may also have useful information on securely wiping your device.
- Be careful when using social networking applications. These apps may reveal more personal information than intended, and to unintended parties. Be especially careful when using services that track your location.
- Do not "root" or "jailbreak" the device. Third-party device firmware, which is sometimes used to get access to device features that are locked by default, can contain malicious code or unintentional security vulnerabilities. Altering the firmware could also prevent the device from receiving future operating system updates, which often contain valuable security updates and other feature upgrades.
Intermediate Accounting Volume 1
ISBN: 9781260306743
7th Edition
Authors: Thomas H. Beechy, Joan E. Conrod, Elizabeth Farrell, Ingrid McLeod Dick