Now most of these are not Telecom
Related there are a few I would like to point out 3 of them as being Telecom
Fraud related:
1. Mobile Malware:
Malware
is not new, it has been around in the PC world for a long time, but now that
there are enough smartphones around to make it worthwhile financially to attack
them.
That
said, be aware that Gary mentions that a new cell phone specific attack has started:
New malware has recently been found that targets
QR codes, a digital barcode that consumers might scan with their smartphone to
find good deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, or just to learn about
products they want to buy.
2. Malicious Mobile Applications:
I
have written about this before when Symantec broke the story about the
phony Netflix Android apps. Just to
show this is not a problem for Android alone, recently there was a story about
someone who created
InstaStock, a Stock Ticker app, for the iPhone that was designed to
A researcher with the security firm Accuvant,
Miller had rigged the app to connect to a server in his St. Louis home and to
receive commands to perform a number of devious tasks, including reading an
iPhone's files, making a phone vibrate and remotely downloading the pictures
and contacts stored on the device of a person running the app.
7. Holiday Phishing Scams
Again
Phishing is not new, and I have written about it in the past, but Gary has
pointed out 3 specific ones related to the holidays you should watch out for:
• A common holiday phishing scam is a phony
notice from UPS, saying you have a package and need to fill out an attached
form to get it delivered. The form may ask for personal or financial details
that will go straight into the hands of the cyberscammer.
• Banking phishing scams continue to be
popular and the holiday season means consumers will be spending more money—and
checking bank balances more often. From July to September of this year, McAfee
Labs identified approximately 2,700 phishing URLs per day.
• Smishing –SMS phishing—(in the US it is
Text Phishing) remains a concern. Scammers send their fake messages via a text
alert to a phone, notifying an unsuspecting consumer that his bank account has
been compromised. The cybercriminals then direct the consumer to call a phone
number to get it re-activated—and collects the user’s personal information
including Social Security number, address, and account details.
Again
none of these are new, and there have been email variants of them all. All 2 have
the intention of tricking you out of information that can be used to access
your bank account, but the SMS one has an additional cost in that it asks you
to call a phone number which in and of itself can cost you significant money.
The
phone number that they have you call can be a premium or other high cost number
that can charge you at least $1 per minute. So pay attention to the number to
make sure it is not one you want to avoid (examples are 809, 900, etc.).
I
recommend you read his article if only for the refresher of all the hazards out
there at the holiday season and how to protect yourself from the ones I have
not mentioned.
