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Fortinet Offers Mobile Operators Security Solution |
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Written by Adam Gosling
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Monday, 10 July 2006 |
Doombot, a mobile virus attack recognised last year, showed
that mobile devices, smart phones and PDAs will become a new frontier of
targeted cyber attacks. It was a Denial of Service (DOS) attack and infected mobile
devices via Web, MMS/SMS and Bluetooth. The effect it had on infected devices
was to slurp up the battery power quickly, while preventing handset reboot.
This meant that subscribers couldn't access carrier services or applications.
Definitely an inconvenience for users, especially those
trying to access enterprise applications while on the road, but the virus
presents a challenge for network operators as well. If subscribers can't use
their devices to access these services, the mobile operator revenues take a
direct hit.
Subscribers went into a frenzy too though, pushing call
centre traffic to new heights, says Fortinet.
These negative impacts might just be enough to force mobile
operators, handset manufacturers, or both, to seek out ways to protect devices from
such threats. If users/subscribers can't be relied upon to protect their own
devices - as is clearly evident in the PC industry, network operators will
ultimately bear the brunt.
Enter Fortinet's solution. A new product targeted squarely
at the operators of mobile network operators and handset manufacturers, FortiClient
Mobile is being pitched as a way to protect carrier revenues from customer
lock-out due to security attack.
Available for both Microsoft Windows Mobile and Symbian
OS-enabled mobile smart phones and PDAs, Fortinet says the software is the
first mobile endpoint security solution on the market to integrate full
anti-virus, MMS/SMS anti-spam, personal firewall and address book protection
and IPSec VPN capabilities.
As manufacturers of mobile devices settle on a diminishing
number of operating platforms coinciding with the explosion of IP based
services across the wireless networks, the threat to these platforms increases
as they become an easier and more attractive target for malware writers.
It's a Catch 22 for the industry, because it's this very move from proprietary
platforms to a more standardised one that enables a broader (and more cost
effective) set of features.
But this increases the risk, and as network operators are
more successful in getting companies and consumers to rely on the services, the
pressure to protect the network form attack becomes more of an imperative,
argues Fortinet.
Some of the bad waiting in the wings for mobile users
includes MMS/SMS spam and phishing attacks, viruses that lead to fraudulent service
charges, even the threat of higher tech support costs and loss of revenue due
to subscriber service downtime.
It could get a whole lot worse though, as mobile devices
become more integral to corporate information systems, the threat to enterprise
data and resources increases manifestly.
The security company argues that blended threats, carried out
for profit will raise the bar, forcing manufacturers and operators to respond with
blended defences that go beyond the point antivirus solutions currently
available for handheld devices.
Fortinet's recommended response to this is to tie in a suite
of security tools at the carrier end, with this new FortiClient Mobile software
running on the mobile device. Now all we need is for the carriers to implement
such a solution before mobile malware gets out of control.
www.fortinet.com
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