RIM Exec: Attacks Targeting Smartphones Likely

From DailyTech: Research In Motion Security Chief Scott Totzke recently said there is a chance smartphones could one day be hijacked and turned into rogue phones on a much larger scale than what is being discovered now.

Totzke, who is RIM's VP of BlackBerry Security, claims summer DDos attacks against South Korea and the United States, reportedly led by North Korea, could also plague smartphones in the future, which will force phone makers to pay close attention to any bugs or errors.

Specifically, infected phone apps with added viruses could be used to hijack other smartphones -- and more mobile security professionals are finding compromised apps being shared. For example, researcher from Flexilis discovered an infected version of Google Maps being shared to phone owners.

As the popularity of smartphones increases -- and wireless providers keep shifting subscribers towards smartphones -- criminals are expected to move into the sector and begin exploiting phones that haven't been properly secured.

"These are not telephones anymore. These are computers," Flexilis CTO Kevin Mahaffey told Reuters. "So people are going to have all the problems on their phones that they have on their computers."

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