Kaspersky Mobile Security 9 is out

Features of Kaspersky Mobile Security 9 (KMS9):

Privacy Protection
-With the touch of a button you can mark a contact as ‘private’, meaning that no trace of them will appear in contact lists, SMSs and call logs. Other people using your mobile will only see what you want them to see.

• Supports contacts from both the onboard memory and SIM cards
• Password protected
  

Anti-Theft
-Remotely Block your phone if it is lost or stolen. Just send a predefined SMS to your phone and your device will be blocked and no-one will be able to access its contents. You can even choose to remotely Wipe your data.

-Set a prearranged message that will be displayed on the screen if the smartphone is blocked, allowing any law-abiding citizen that finds your smartphone to return it to you.

-You can locate your smartphone using GPS Find. Just send an SMS with the appropriate password to the missing device and you will receive a link to Google Maps showing the exact location of the device.

-The first thing a thief normally does is to remove your smartphone’s SIM card. If the SIM is replaced, SIM Watch will immediately block the device and send you an email with the new number.

Encryption
-Give sensitive information on your phone an extra level of security. Choose the folders on your smartphone that you want to encrypt and password-protect. Even if the folder is located on a memory card, it cannot be accessed from another phone or computer without the correct password.

Anti-Spam
-Are trivial calls or messages distracting you at inopportune moments? Choose which contacts you want to accept calls and messages from. Anti-Spam can run in whitelist mode (only accepting calls and messages from specified contacts) or in blacklist mode (accepting calls and messages from all numbers except those on the list).

Parental Control
-When installed on a child’s mobile, Kaspersky Mobile Security can block outgoing calls or SMSs to undesirable numbers, including premium rate services. GPS Find allows you to pinpoint exactly where your child is at any time of the day or night.

Anti-Malware Protection and Firewall
-Kaspersky Mobile Security provides everything you need to keep your smartphone protected: realtime protection from malware, on-demand or scheduled antivirus scans, automatic updates over-the-air, and blocking of dangerous network connections in line with a predefined security level.


KMS9 work on Symbian and Windows Mobile platform. More info visit kms.kaspersky.com

You may purchase the KMS license online and pay via local banks on Malaysia based Antivirus365 website

Note: All current KMS 8 users can upgrade to KMS9 for free. New KMS8 serial number can be activated on KMS9.

Blackberry Users: Information on your device could be at risk!

If you are using a Blackberry for work or personal reasons, you should be cautious on what you do with it. No matter if it is a software upgrade from your mobile operator.

Recently, late June last month, United Arab Emirates' largest telecommunications operator Etisalat told its 145,000 BlackBerry customers to "upgrade" the software on their Blackberry devices by downloading a program or a "patch" that Etisalat claimed would improve performance. However users who upgraded that patch said that it resulted the device’s battery to drain faster.

According to Nigel Gourlay, a Doha-based Sun-certified Java programmer, once the "patch"(surveillance application) is installed, it potentially gives Etisalat the power to view all emails and text messages sent from the BlackBerry.- Source

The maker of Blackberry, Research in Motion (RIM) Ltd in statement claims that it did not authorised the software installation.

Full story here:

• BlackBerry users tricked
• UAE Mobile Carrier Pushes Spyware to BlackBerry Subscribers
  
• RIM Scrubs Spyware From UAE BlackBerrys
• BlackBerry rogue software leaves sour taste in UAE
  

Similar to what is happening to the Windows operating system, hackers are targeting popular mobile operating systems out there for financial reason. In this case, Blackberries are targeted as it involves business users where information stored on the device is critical to them or the company they are working with.

Blackberry including other popular operating system such as the one running on the iPhone, Android and Symbian will continue to be the target of hackers as long as it remains popular.

One simple precaution that users could take is to install a mobile antivirus software that includes a firewall.

Hopefully, the mobile operators in Malaysia who offers Blackberry including DiGi, Celcom & Maxis will not make the same mistake.

Broadband for Better or Risk?

The recent WiMAX licensing should lead to many more of Malaysia's communities gaining access to broadband for the first time, and takeup rates can be expected to increase significantly from the small percentage of the population using it now.

But with the growth of broadband, broadband user security may well develop into a major business issue.

Regardless of physical access (be it DSL or broadband wireless) the security challenge for carriers is how to handle escalating threats to the customer, that negatively impact end user experience, as well as increasing risks from spyware, malware, worms, trojans, viruses, phishing and pharming every minute the customer is online.

Recent worm outbreaks and powerful Denial of Service attacks in Asia Pacific countries, have highlighted how network infrastructure can be a target rather than just a transport.

Ethernet sized pipes now readily available in Korea, Japan and other countries have been combined with more sophisticated worms on "zombie" machines, putting the carrier increasingly at risk from attacks.

Read More.

Defend yourself againts Mobile Threats

We have seen too many viruses, malware, spyware, adwares targeted to PC users. We have also seen the impact of a virus/threat. It can do anything from destroying your PC, stealing your data, attacking other computers and can even make YOU unable to turn ON your own PC.

Welcome to the Era of Mobile Virus

There are currently few hundred of viruses/threat for Mobile Phone, to be exact, approximately some 350 viruses.

With just few hundreds of mobile viruses/threats, it has been able to infect your phone, steal private data(key logging), destroy data and many more.

However, experts says that threats to mobile phones will not be as worse as PC. It has been more than 3 years since the first mobile virus was discovered and the results of dealing with it has been far much better then PC.

Do you know that, receiving a call can also get your mobile phone infected with virus? There were also possibilities that mobile viruses can spread via SMS.

So, should you and I be worried?

There are currently approximately 100 million smartphones in the market.

Yes!!! If your mobile phone has any of the function or service below, then you and I should be worried:

• Bluetooth(Virus attacks via file transfer)
• Data Services(If you surf on your phone or receive MMS, make sure you purchase a mobile antivirus)
• Symbian Phones(Most viruses are targeted to mobile phones running Symbian although others like Palm and Windows Mobile are not excepted, get an anti-virus software)
• Memory Card(Virus transferred from a PC or other mobile phone can also infect your phone, get an anti-virus software)

No!!! If you:

• Use non-colour screen phone
• Don't use bluetooth
• Don't have memory card slot on your phone
  
• Don't use 3.5G/3G/EDGE/GPRS/WAP

Read "Mobile malware a growing threat".

If you have been attacked by a mobile virus before, do share it with me in the comments section.

Macrokiosk denies spoofing

Local mobile messaging gateway provider Macrokiosk Bhd has defended itself against accusations that it is involved in the recently publicised cases of SMS spoofing.

Macrokiosk is also listed three times on the MCMC (Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission) list of non-compliant content providers, which can be viewed at http://www.mcmc.gov.my/consumer/non_compliance.asp.

As a result, the company has drawn disapproval from some mobile content industry players when it was recently listed in the Maxis Elite ECP (external content provider) Programme.

Read more.