Security Firms Bicker Over Mobile Viruses

Fijer Nrosikjen writes to mention a ZDNet article about a claim by CA that F-Secure is just spreading FUD over mobile virus code, in order to promote its product. From the article: "CA said criminals do not have an economic incentive to develop malicious code and that the risk of such attacks spreading around smart phones is minimal because of a lack of interoperability between platforms and phone models. Network services don't allow for the fast spreading of code from phone to phone, and user interaction is required for any viruses to spread, the company added. It said F-Secure has created an atmosphere of fear, uncertainty and doubt to sell its product, undermining the relationship of trust that has been established between the industry and vendors. "

Comments

Is CA that ignorant?

[HikingStick]

CA said criminals do not have an economic incentive to develop malicious code and...

I spend a good number of my waking hours working with tech auditors who look at financial institutions and big firms. Saying that there is no economic incentive to develop malicious code (even if only limiting the argument to mobile devices) is absurd. Script kiddies will still wreak periodic havoc, but fear the coder who can't make ends meet (especially in the former soviet block) and sells out to organized crime interests.

If anything, F-Secure is sounding a warning. Mobile viruses may not be the primary attack vector now, but with smart devices ever increasing (and a propensity of some executives to store everything on them, including passwords), it makes sense to stir up a little fear in the hope of preventing future harm.

Fear is not bad if it is founded in reality. I've seen enough reality to know that this fear is warranted.

Re:Is CA that ignorant?

[laffer1]

Both are ignorant. Any type of device could have a virus written for it. Even CA implies that. Its a warning that nothing is safe, but I don't think its time to buy software for viruses yet. Its like buying antivirus for a mac or linux desktop. There isn't anything in the wild that is going to hurt you right now. Sure there's a few token viruses but if you are patched they can't hurt you. Someday mac os and linux will be hit as bad as Windows. Why? Users are stupid. It only takes one click to get you in trouble. Most malware is concealed in something useful now.

The question is when will consumers figure out the scam. Why is it that no antivirus product I've tried for Windows has a small footprint and detects reasonably well. The closest I've seen is clam antivirus for windows and that can't remove anything. Remember when antivirus vendors pushed the new version because it was faster and sometimes smaller? What happened to that. I actually don't run with antivirus on anymore. A monthly scan is enough. I patch windows religiously and only do special scans when I download from untrustworthy sources. There is a small risk one of them will spread a virus but its unlikely.

Home users shouldn't fear this at all yet. Businesses should consider telling their users to watch what they install on their phones.

Re:Um...

[Tx]

Most people don't need AV software

WTF? Most nerds may not need AV software on their PCs. Most other people do. They do not know how to recognize and avoid malware, manually remove it and repair damage done by it, or follow good practice to avoid it in the first place. If you're arguing that they should learn, that's pie in the sky. Believe me, they need AV software.

User interaction == and your point is?

[lonesome phreak]

"user interaction is required for any viruses to spread" So? We recently had a virus at my work (a large fortune 500 company) that required you to open up a zip file, put in a supplied 6-digit password from the email into the application the zipfile opened, and run the executible application. We still had people do this, because they thought it was "secret pictures" or something from their co-workers.

A virus could require you to bleed onto the keyboard by stabbing yourself in the hand. If it promised nude pics and said it was from someone you know, there are enough people out there that will run it to give me a headache.

why I use open source

[psbrogna]

After listening to the fud exchange between these two parties I just realized the major reason I use OSS.

It's been said that people use OSS because it's free, more secure, performs better, architected better ... all things I do take into consideration.

However I think I like OSS most because there's no marketing department intruding into my life and in many cases lying to me.

Let's all raise our glasses to this wonderful phenomenon.