Visiting the Mobile World Congress (MWC or GSMA) in Barcelona in 2014. BEO can provide VIP, Executive, Chauffeur and Concierge Services of all types. Also Barcelona tours, or Sitges Tours, Barcelona Tourist Guide, Sagrada Familia, Gothic Quarters, Picasso, Gaudi, Flamenco or sample Tapas, Paella, Albondigas, wines and cavas of the region. Try the world famous Camp Nou Experience, visit the F1 Circuit of Catalunya to drive a Ferrari, a Super Car or even be a passenger in a Formula One Car.
It now seems that there is a joint effort between some of the mobile giants, to launch a new open source OS, based smart phone, to take some of the 90% market share from Google Android, Apple IOS and Blackberry. Read on for more information.
In an effort to compete with U.S. tech giants Google and Apple, NTT
Docomo Inc. is jointly developing a new operating system for smartphones
that it hopes to put on the market next year, The Yomiuri Shimbun has
learned.
Docomo, Japan's largest mobile communication company, has joined
with South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. and other firms to develop a
system that will take a larger slice of the smartphone pie.
Google and
Apple hold a 90 percent share of the market.
The ultimate aim is to form a business group that will rival the two U.S. companies.
The OS that Docomo and its partners are developing is named Tizen.
Samsung will probably begin selling the smartphones next year and they
are likely to be released in Japan and other countries at around the
same time, according to sources.
Application software products formatted for Google's Android and
Apple's iPhone devices equipped with iOS have become easier to use.
However, it is difficult for mobile phone service companies to offer
their own services, such as for Docomo's online shopping, or to improve
the safety of personal information for the smartphones equipped with
the OS products developed in the United States.
In contrast, the basic technology information used by Tizen will be
made open to the public and the OS is being developed on the premise
that mobile phone service companies will be able to offer their own
services.
According to Gartner Inc., a U.S. research company, Android held a
global market share of 72.4 percent in OS products for smartphones from
July to September 2012, and iOS held 13.9 percent.
Most apps were developed for the two products.
Besides Docomo, European mobile phone service companies also are
participating in the development of Tizen because they fear the hegemony
of the two U.S. companies in businesses using smartphones, such as
games and music distribution.
Docomo is the only firm among Japan's three major mobile phone service operators that does not sell iPhones.
As a result, the number of subscribers leaving Docomo for other
companies has exceeded the number of new subscribers over the past four
years, as users can retain the same telephone numbers after changing
companies.
In November, the number of canceled Docomo contracts was larger than
that of new contracts for the first time in about five years.
Docomo hopes the smartphone with the Tizen OS will reverse this trend.
Tizen's main developers are Samsung and Intel Corp., a major U.S.
semiconductor products manufacturer. Besides Docomo, Britain's Vodafone
Group PLC, France Telecom, other European mobile phone service
companies, Panasonic Corp. and NEC Corp. are involved in the
development.
The Tizen OS will be an open-source product so users can further develop or improve the software.
The development of apps for the new OS system is expected to be simpler.
Finnish Company Nokia has been in news headlines recently for
extending its Windows-based products and next in line is its forthcoming
Windows RT slate.
Nokia is all set to bring a new Windows RT tablet with features
somewhat similar to the Microsoft’s Surface Model. Nokia Windows RT
tablet runs on an ARM chip and has a 10.1 inch screen. It will also have
a cellular networking and AT&T, one of the major carriers in U.S
will be the first provide the connectivity.
Nokia Windows RT tablet also boasts a special cover similar to that
of Microsoft’s Windows RT tablet. The special cover of Nokia tablet
covers it like an envelope and also has a built-in keyboard, kickstand
and battery. There are two USB ports in the case of Nokia Windows RT
tablet providing it an extra connectivity option.
The price of Nokia Windows RT tablet is indeed as important as it
specifications. Nokia has not yet revealed the price range for this
Windows tablet, but it may soon be revealed with the tablet itself in
February 2013.
This Windows RT tablet from Nokia is planned to be released in
the Mobile World Congress, which is considered as the biggest tech event
in the world.
Summary: 4G mobile will offer super-fast download speeds
when it arrives in the UK. Find out what 4G technologies are being
deployed in the UK, by who and when, and why the UK has lagged behind
the rest of the world on 4G adoption.
Mobile operators have been offering 3G services for nearly a
decade and have continued to refine the technology, squeezing extra
speed out of the existing infrastructure and standards.
Currently, 3G HSPA+ technology can deliver a theoretical download speeds of 42Mbps, but with demand for mobile data (and in particular video) constantly increasing, 3G is beginning to show its age.
That's why there is so much interest in the next wave of wireless —
known collectively as 4G — which hold the promise of even faster
downloads. But while other countries have raced ahead, in the UK
adoption has been slower.
What is 4G?
4G is the next generation of mobile communication standards, picking
up where 3G drops off and delivering higher download and upload speeds.
What is 4G, and when will it arrive in the UK?
There are several technologies competing to become the de facto 4G
standard. The term 4G doesn't actually refer to a particular technology —
rather it's a catch-all term that in the UK is generally used to refer
to Long Term Evolution (LTE).
In other countries, such as the US, different technologies — such as WiMax
— have been deployed to provide higher-capacity data services. In the
UK, WiMax is very rare, with just a few small operators serving specific
towns or cities.
LTE versus WiMax
WiMax uses underlying technology based on Wi-Fi, whereas LTE is based
on the same underlying technology that currently underpins every big UK
mobile operator's 3G network. This is why we will have 4G LTE as the
standard technology rather than WiMax (making the situation considerably
more clear cut for end users in the UK than in the US, where both
technologies have already been widely deployed).
So in the UK, at least, the future of 4G is LTE. And LTE, like every
other data communication standard, operates in a specific frequency or
set of frequencies.
But to add to the complexity, the UK's LTE services operate in a
different band to those in the US, meaning that certain 4G-equipped
devices won't work everywhere in the world.
You can think of the issue with different 4G bands in a similar way
to how you used to have to check whether a phone was dual, tri or
quad-band to see if it would work abroad.
In the UK, LTE services will use the 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2.6GHz bands whereas the new iPad, for example, will only work on 4G networks that use the 700MHz or 2.1GHz frequency bands.
So if you're on a trip to the US anytime soon and are considering
snapping up a new 4G-equipped phone or tablet, be aware that it almost
certainly won't be compatible with the UK's 4G networks.
Why should I care about 4G? Will it really be that fast?
Have you ever been out and about trying to watch a video on YouTube
or stream some music and have it steadfastly refuse to playback without
constant buffering? Yes? Well, that will be a thing of the past with 4G.
The new iPad is not compatible will all types of 4G service. Image credit: CNET News
Of course, that was the promise of 3G but it never quite seemed to be the case.
Where 3G HSPA+ speeds are currently maxing out at around a
theoretical 42Mbps downstream limit, 4G promises to deliver up to
100Mbps for users on the move.
But it's not just for urban hipsters — 4G could also play a role in bridging the rural broadband divide in the UK.
If it's used a replacement for fixed-line broadband, even higher
speeds are possible, depending on reception and how many people are
using the service. In fact, several of the test deployments of 4G
services in the UK have taken place in rural locations such as Cornwall.
It's hard to say exactly how much faster the 4G services will be in
the UK, as current trials are exactly that and are therefore not subject
to true fully laden network conditions. As a rough guide, I've had a
play with two different 4G services so far, and the download speeds
ranged from just below 40Mbps in a moving car and up to 48Mbps when stationary.
When will 4G arrive in the UK?
There is still no definitive launch date from UK operators; but it's not (just) their fault.
The earliest likely date for widespread 4G availability in the UK,
from a range of operators, is the autumn of 2013. The UK was one of the
first countries to hold 3G spectrum auctions in Europe, but it will be
one of the last to hold its 4G auctions.
3G spectrum already owned:
2.1GHz – Vodafone, O2, Everything Everywhere and Three
4G spectrum up for grabs:
800MHz and 2.6GHz
The UK's telecoms regulator Ofcom has been mulling the idea of an
auction of the spectrum needed to run 4G services in the country since
2008. However, due to a range of factors, such as the analogue
television switch-off and the unequal allocation of spectrum currently
used for 2G and 3G services, the process has hit a number of delays.
Considering what's at stake (their future business and current
multi-billion pound investments) it's understandable (but not
necessarily forgivable) that the operators have also been bickering
about the fairest way to run the auction.
Operators cannot begin to offer their services before the spectrum
auction takes place — and the process is not due to begin until the end
of 2012. By the end of this year, Ofcom will have taken applications
from prospective bidders with a view to start the bidding early in 2013.
As a result, big UK operators like O2 and Vodafone are unlikely to be able to use the spectrum for 4G before autumn 2013.
Everything Everywhere's 4G service
However, while the spectrum auction (800MHz and 2.6GHz) is still
scheduled to take place before the end of 2012, Everything Everywhere
has been given permission by Ofcom to re-use its 1800MHz spectrum
currently used for 2G services for 4G services, effectively given the
company a head-start on its rivals.
On 11 September, the first day Everything Everywhere could start 'refarming' the spectrum, the company said it has rebranded itself 'EE' ahead of its 4G LTE services going live.
It also said it has begun trials of its 4G technology in London,
Bristol, Cardiff and Birmingham. These cities will be the first places
to offer the service. EE aims to extend the reach to a further 12 cities
(Belfast, Derby, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Liverpool,
Manchester, Nottingham, Newcastle, Sheffield and Southampton) before
Christmas 2012.
While it gave no solid date for the first introduction, chief
executive Olaf Swantee said EE aims to provide 4G coverage for 20
million Britons before the end of 2012, rising to 70 percent of the
country by the end of 2013, and 98 percent by the end of 2014.
Another LTE service
If, for some reason you absolutely have to use 4G sooner, you can —
there is one very limited 4G service being offered already in Southwark,
South London and also in Swindon.
However, the company behind the service — called UK Broadband — is a
bit of an anomaly as it delivering the service using Time-Division
Long-Term Evolution (TD-LTE) in the 3.5GHz frequency.
Unlike 'standard' LTE, Time-Division Long-Term Evolution was
previously thought to be unsuitable for 4G due to the type of spectrum
it operates in (lower-band spectrum tends to perform better at things
like passing through the walls of buildings) but this has since been
reconsidered.
"The UK was one of the first countries to hold 3G spectrum auctions in Europe, but it will be one of the last to hold its 4G auctions"
One stumbling block for TD-LTE is that there are at present very few phones in the UK that support it. There are some Mi-Fi devices that support it, which will let you connect to the hotspot by Wi-Fi like normal, but it's not a very elegant solution.
Everything Everywhere — or EE, as it is now called — has announced a handful of handsets that will work on its forthcoming 4G network, including the Nokia Lumia 920, the Samsung Galaxy S III LTE, and the Apple iPhone 5.
How much will 4G cost in the UK?
Understandably operators aren't keen to start talking pricing when the service is so far away from going live. Mobile contracts are likely to include 4G data usage in the same way
that 3G data is included today. Like any new technology, this will
likely come at a premium initially, but I'd be surprised if it costs
more than — say — £10 more than today's contract deals.
By the time the services are live the companies involved will have
cumulatively spent billions of pounds deploying 4G in the UK. The last
thing they would want is lacklustre uptake of the service and an even
longer period before they can recoup their costs and start making money
off the infrastructure upgrades. To promote widespread usage, dare I say
ubiquity, of the service, they'll make them as cheap as they can to
tempt customers in.
How much telcos could end up charging for 4G data services on the
per-MB level is more difficult to predict, though it would presumably
still have to fall within EU guidelines from the pricing of data at a
wholesale level.
Nokia has talked about cooperation with Microsoft,
Qualcomm and Compal Electronics to resume development of a 10-inch
Windows RT tablet, and is likely to unveil the model at the 2013 Mobile
World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, during February 25-28, according to
Taiwan-based supply chain makers.
Nokia originally
planned to develop a 10-inch Windows RT tablet equipped with Qualcomm's
S4 processor in first-quarter 2012, with Compal to undertake ODM
production and initial shipments of 200,000 units to test the market,
the sources indicated. But because Microsoft later announced Surface,
and the market for Windows 8/RT tablets needed to be proven, Nokia
internally focused on smartphones, and delayed the development of the
10-inch Windows RT tablet, the sources pointed out.
As
the sales performance for Windows RT tablets has so far been short of
expectations, Nokia is evaluating ordered volumes and has not yet
decided on its marketing plans, the sources indicated.
For nearly a decade and a half, Nokia has dominated annual cellphone sales over rivals like Samsung, LG and more recently Apple.
Based
on a new report, Nokia's reign is about to end, as Samsung is expected
to usurp the incumbent champion based on its 2012 performance.
Analytics
company IHS has forecasted Samsung will finish 2012 with a hold on 29
percent of the cellphone market, while Nokia will retain only 24
percent.
In 2011, the companies actually had nearly inverse those
numbers, with Nokia maintaining its control with a 30 percent share
compared to Samsung's 24 percent.
Numbers game
"The
competitive reality of the cellphone market in 2012 was 'live by the
smartphone; die by the smartphone,'" said Wayne Lam, senior analyst for
wireless communications at IHS.
For its part, Samsung definitely delivered on the smartphone front, with devices like the Galaxy S3 leading the charge.
Samsung had squashed the competition during the third quarter, selling 98 million phones (55 million of which were smartphones) on its way to a 22.9 percent share of the market.
Nokia
meanwhile was big in the cellphone market during the third quarter,
moving 82 million devices, though only 7.2 million of those were
smartphones.
Apple has managed to hang onto third place thanks to
pulling in 10 percent of the sales, but the company still has a long way
to go to catch up to either Nokia or Samsung.
Changing of the guard
IHS attributed Nokia's declining performance to the change in direction, as the company is now moving towards Windows Phone 8.
Though smartphones like the Lumia 800 and Lumia 920
did release before the end of 2012, the phones' presence was clearly
not enough to make up the ground lost to Samsung earlier in the year.
Conversely,
the analytics firm points to Samsung's ability to appeal to both the
high-and low-end of the smartphone market as a chief reason for its
success.
Samsung saw its smartphone shipments rise 8 percent from
2011, giving it the greatest growth, and a healthy 28 percent of the
market.
Meanwhile, Nokia saw the biggest dip in its smartphones
shipped, and fell to just 5 percent, which was an 11 percent decrease
over 2011.
Apple was then able to hold onto its second place
position as far as smartphones were concerned, gaining 20 percent of the
total market.
(Dis)honorable mention
HTC and Research in
Motion both barely factored into the equation, with each company holding
onto 5 percent of the smartphone market.
RIM's fortunes may be on the upswing in 2013 however, with the anticipated launch of BlackBerry 10 just a month away.
The
evolution of smartphones in the current market has accelerated quickly,
and it will be interesting to see just how well all these competitors
perform during the upcoming year with a host of new handsets expected to
take over 2013.
Source: http://www.techradar.com, written by Luke Brown
The GSMA today announced that CEOs and senior executives from Bharti Airtel, Deezer, Dropbox, General Motors,Juniper Networks
and Qtel will take to the stage in keynote sessions at the 2013 GSMA
Mobile World Congress, taking place 25-28 February 2013 at Fira Gran Via
in Barcelona. The company announced several new sponsors participating
in the App Planet and mPowered Brands programmes, along with new partner
events and training sessions taking place at Mobile World Congress.
"Mobile
World Congress conference attendees will have the opportunity to hear
from some of the most prominent individuals in the mobile industry
today, as well as leaders from companies in other industries," said
Michael O'Hara, Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA. "We are particularly
excited to welcome several speakers who are making their debuts in the
Mobile World Congress keynote programme and will offer new
perspectives."
Stellar Keynote Lineup at Mobile World Congress A
number of additional CEOs and senior executives from leading companies
across the mobile ecosystem and in adjacent industries have recently
been confirmed to speak in the Mobile World Congress keynote programme,
including:
Franco Bernabe, Chairman, GSMA and Chairman and CEO, Telecom Italia Group
Suk-Chae Lee, Chairman and CEO, KT Corp.
Gary Kovacs, CEO, Mozilla
Susan Whiting, Vice Chair, Nielsen
Stephen Elop, President and CEO, Nokia
Kaoru Kato, President and CEO, NTT DOCOMO
Paul Jacobs, Chairman and CEO, Qualcomm
Talmon Marco, Founder and CEO, Viber Media
Lars Nyberg, President and CEO, TeliaSonera
Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive, Vodafone Group
Beyond
the keynotes, the 2013 conference will also include sessions exploring
hot topics such as big data, mobile cloud, mWallets, NFC, small cells
and smart cities, as well as the role of mobile in adjacent industries
like advertising, automotive, finance and retail. For more information
on the Mobile World Congress keynotes, as well as the full conference
programme, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/conference.
Nokia, Plantronics and Samsung to Host ADCs in App Planet For
the fourth year at Mobile World Congress, App Planet will bring
together mobile industry leaders and the application development
community to participate in programmes focusing on the explosive growth
in the mobile apps market, as well as exhibition, product and service
demonstrations, networking and workshops. The GSMA today announced that
App Planet Supporting Sponsors Nokia, Plantronics and Samsung will be
holding app developer conferences (ADCs) in App Planet, joining
previously announced App Planet Supporting Sponsors including the Car
Connectivity Consortium and Wireless Industry Partnership. The Official
App Planet Sponsor is Generalitat de Catalunya - Government of Catalonia
and Supporting Sponsor is Inneractive. For more information, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/app-planet-overview/.
New Partner Events and Training Sessions In addition to the GTI Summit taking place on Tuesday 26th
February, Mobile World Congress will also feature partner events from
companies including ClickSoftware, Fastback Networks, IBM, MasterCard,
the Open Mobile Alliance and Taisys. For more information on these new
partner events, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/partner-events/
Mobile
World Congress 2013 will also include training sessions delivered by
Andrew Seybold Wireless University and Award Solutions. These
independent seminars will focus on the deployment of next-generation
mobile technologies and include sessions such as "Mobile Today and
Tomorrow" presented by Andrew Seybold Wireless University, and "Making
an Impact with VoLTE" and "Keys to Successful LTE Networks", both
presented by Award Solutions. For more information on these training
sessions, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/training/
New mPowered Brands Supporting SponsorMobile-Loco
has joined as the latest mPowered Brands Supporting Sponsor at Mobile
World Congress. Designed to develop marketers' and enterprise leaders'
mobile knowledge and to fast-track their use of mobile for marketing and
consumer engagement, mPowered Brands comprises three elements: the
mPowered Brands Zone, mPowered Brands Theatres and mPowered Brands
Mobile Ambassadors. For more information on mPowered Brands, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/mpoweredbrands-overview.
Demonstration Sponsors for Mobile World Congress Media Welcome Reception The
GSMA announced that Mobeam, Symphony Teleca and Trend Micro will be
participating in demonstration showcases at the first official Mobile
World Congress Media Welcome Reception. Held on Sunday, 24th
February from 17:00 to 19:00 at Fira Gran Via, this networking cocktail
reception will offer accredited press and industry analysts the
opportunity to meet with leading players from across the mobile
ecosystem and preview the week's activities in relaxed social
environment. For more information on the Media Welcome Reception at
Mobile World Congress, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/press/.
The
Mobile World Congress is the cornerstone of the Mobile World Capital,
which will be hosted in Barcelona from 2013 to 2018. The Mobile World
Capital also includes the Mobile World Centre, the Mobile World Festival
and the Mobile World Hub, programmes and activities that will span the
entire year and will benefit not only the citizens of Barcelona,
Catalonia and Spain, but also the worldwide mobile industry. For more
information on the Mobile World Capital, visit www.mobileworldcapital.com.
About the GSMA The
GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning
more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world's
mobile operators with more than 230 companies in the broader mobile
ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment
providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry
sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and
utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the
Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.
For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com
Here is a great article that we cam e acroos, which talks about the mobile era and how we may be affected, in 2013, by what is happening in this area.
Forecast for the year ahead in mobile malware distribution methods, profit-making schemes and privacy threats.
The mobile era is underway, and 2013 will find people more dependent
than ever on their mobile devices to control countless aspects of their
personal, public and business lives. The possibilities of this trend are
exciting, but heavy reliance and a trove of information on devices are
enticing to attackers, putting people, businesses and their most
sensitive data at risk.
In 2013, people will purchase more than 1.2 billion mobile devices, surpassing PCs as the most common internet access device in the world. Mobile platforms will continue to expand at breakneck speed, as people are forecast to download over 70 billion mobile apps in 2014.
2013 Prediction Highlights
Globally, we estimate 18 million Android users may encounter mobile malware from the beginning of 2012 to the end of 2013.[1]
Toll fraud will continue to dominate as the chosen monetization strategy for mobile malware writers.
Mobile spam will increase in volume, become a growing nuisance and turn into a new threat vector.
The use of surveillanceware (like FinFisher) for political espionage will increase.
Finding the right balance between protection and employee empowerment will be the business challenge of 2013.
Before diving into next year, let’s take a look back at 2012.
2012 Retrospective
Toll fraud,
malware that charges money to a user’s mobile phone bill, matured as a
significant application-based mobile threat. In 2012, 72 percent of
Lookout’s malware detections were classified as toll fraud malware.
Privacy has become a major concern for smartphone users with a number of threats emerging on both Android and iOS.
Earlier this year, roughly 5 percent of the Android apps Lookout analyzed used an aggressive ad network—these apps accounted for over 80 million downloads.
Theft
and physical attacks related to mobile devices are increasing as a
greater number of people now carry one or more expensive phones and
tablets.[2] We estimate that stolen and lost mobile phones cost US consumers $30 billion in 2012.[3]
2013 Likelihood of Encountering a Threat
Lookout’s State of Mobile Security 2012
report established a new methodology for measuring the likelihood of
encountering mobile threats. Based on this new methodology, the global
likelihood that a new Lookout user[4] encountered a mobile threat from June to October was 0.84 percent.
Figure 1: Global Mobile Malware Infection Rate – New Lookout Users
The likelihood that new Lookout users will encounter malware or
spyware is heavily dependent on their geography and behavior, varying
from 0.20 percent in Japan to 0.40 percent in the US and as high as 34.7
percent in Russia. This chart looks at country-based mobile malware and
spyware infection rates of new Lookout users in October 2012.
Figure 2: Mobile Malware Infection Rate – New Lookout Users, October 2012
Each of these threats have been and will continue to be driven by
financial, political and/or publicity motivations. Lookout’s team of
security engineers and data researchers took a look at these trends and
motivations from 2012 to offer insights into the evolution of the mobile
threat space for 2013.
2013 Predictions
Toll Fraud Takes the Cake in 2013
Toll fraud will
continue to dominate the 2013 mobile threat space, despite forward
momentum on the platform to block these types of attacks. This is due to
the following:
Systems Architecture: Premium SMS protections are only baked into
the latest versions of Android (4.2 / Jelly Bean); the first devices are
just now shipping with this firmware version, and will not
significantly penetrate the market until late 2013.
Ease of Attack: Toll fraud will remain the easiest path to
monetization for malware authors within the base of mobile consumers. It
does not require significant technical sophistication and provides
considerable ROI that is built into most mobile networks via
pre-existing billing channels. A 2012 example, FakeInst, pretended to
act as an installer for legitimate popular apps such as the Opera
Browser (hence the names ‘OpFake’ and ‘Fakebrows’) or WhatsApp
Messenger.
Spam Heats Up on Mobile
SMS-based spam will increase in its volume across mobile networks in
2013. We recently observed a number of malicious applications, toll
fraud-based and otherwise, such as ConnectSMS, actively collecting
contact information from infected devices. It’s not a stretch to expect
that malware writers will seek to monetize these datasets via spammers.
Its only a matter of time before writers send spam in-network, infecting
devices to appear they have come from inside as the have on PCs in the
past.
Mobile Banking/Payments Top of Mind But Have Little Payoff
Mobile banking has become mainstream,
and mobile bank fraud has continued to remain an issue, predominately
for European users. The majority of mobile banking threats begin with
PC-based malware and include a malicious mobile app that intercepts
verification codes, known as mTANs, sent to customers’ devices via SMS.
Standalone mobile banking fraud without a PC component is not yet
prevalent. Because PC-based banking fraud is still a viable business
model, we do not expect attackers to significantly change their ways in
2013.
Mobile payments are still in their early stages; currently no
platform or technology dominates the market. Card-based fraud is simple
and enjoys an ample payoff, suggesting that fraudsters may not have the
motive to shift to mobile payments fraud yet. Attacks against mobile
payment systems have been limited to, academic proofs, like NFC, that are typical for an emerging technology. While McKinsey predicts
that by 2013, almost 50 percent of consumers expect to use their mobile
phones to access their financial accounts or process payments, this
space will not reach the maturity needed to become a legitimate target
in 2013.
Mobile Becomes Hotspot for Targeted Political Surveillance
In 2012, FinSpy provided the first evidence that mobile surveillanceware is actively being used to monitor political targets. Marketed to law enforcement personnel,
FinSpy software was discovered targeting human rights activists in
Bahrain. We expect to find more politically motivated targeted
surveillanceware emerge in 2013.
Businesses Challenged with Employee Empowerment vs. Control
Finding the right balance between protection and employee empowerment
will be the challenge of 2013. Over the past few years, there has been a
surge in the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) phenomenon. More than 80 percent
of organizations allow employees to bring their devices to work. Not
only that, but employees often use consumer cloud services to store /
transfer sensitive corporate information, broadening the target, often
accessing these at work, or Bring Your Own Network (BYON). As corporate
IT administrators seek to gain control over mobile devices, there is
potential that by over-correcting for the problem, employees will seek
new ways to subvert processes and policies that constrain the pure
consumer experience.
Mobile App & Browser – Constant Threat Vectors
Mobile applications will remain the central collection point for our personal data –
from location information, messaging, calendars to social circles. They
will also remain the most straightforward channel for privacy attacks
that seek to collect that data.
Meanwhile, the mobile browser will continue to be the largest remote
attack surface on mobile devices. Attacks of this type provide a vector
for intruders to attempt to break in, independent of creating a
trojanized mobile application, making it a target for a broad-based
attack.
Privacy Crackdowns Happen Across the Board
Mobile privacy will be a major issue in 2013, as long as applications
continue to access personal or device-specific information without
gaining proper informed consent. There will be continued pressure on app
developers in the form of government action, industry self-regulation
and consumer pressure. The State of California has started to crackdown
on apps and developers that do not provide sufficient mobile privacy
policies. This is a first step towards a broader set of industry
standards around mobile privacy.
How to Stay Safe in 2013
Individuals
Avoid toll fraud, regularly check your phone bill:
Always review your monthly phone bill statements for suspicious charges.
Contact your carrier if you identify something you believe to be fraud.
Double-check URLs on your mobile: After clicking on
a web link, pay close attention to the address to make sure it matches
the website it claims to be, especially if you are asked to enter
account or login information.
Protect your privacy, understand app permissions: Be
cautious about granting applications access to personal information on
your phone or letting the application have access to perform functions
on your phone. Make sure to check the privacy settings for each app
before installing it.
Be smart about device settings: Keep network
connectivity such as NFC / WiFi, or Bluetooth ‘OFF’ when not in use. Be
sure to disable settings such as debug mode that can open a device up to
illicit access.
Download a security app: Download a security app
that scans the apps you download for malware and spyware, helps you
locate a lost or stolen device, and protects you from unsafe websites.
Update your phone and apps: Make sure to download
and install updates from your mobile operator as soon as they are
available for your device. The same goes for apps, download app updates
when they are available.
Businesses
Raise employee awareness: Help employees understand the threats and risks out there so that employees can take action to safeguard their phones.
Protect employees’ phones: Ensure that every phone – personal or company – is protected with a mobile security app for business that finds malware, scans apps, and locates and remotely wipes the device.
Patch known vulnerabilities: Keep employee phones’
operating system software up-to-date by enabling automatic updates or
accepting service provider’s updates when prompted. Stay up to speed on
what vulnerabilities are not patched across device types and carriers to
maintain a proper threat model. The National Institute of Standards and
Technology offers a database of device vulnerabilities.
***
This report was prepared and written by security
researchers and engineers Kevin Mahaffey, Derek Halliday and Tim Wyatt
from Lookout.
[1]To estimate the total
number of mobile users that will encounter malware from the beginning
of 2012 to 2013, we used the likelihood rate of infection in October
2012 from global top markets. By extrapolating this detection rate
across Android user base for each market (reference Canalys) in 2012 and
the expected shipment base in 2013 for each market, Lookout estimates
that as many as 18.4 million will encountered malware/spyware from the
beginning of 2012 to the end of 2013. We combined shipment data from
2012 and 2013 to get an accurate representation of the number of phones
in the market based on the average two year cell phone contract.
