There have been two recent attacks on user-modified (or jailbroken) iPhones, Ikee (which changes the phone's wallpaper to a picture of Rick Astley!) and the Duh worm (which changes the SSH password and adds the phone to a botnet to be used as a zombie in future attacks, http://www.itwire.com/content/view/29552/53/). Attacks on wireless devices are not new (the Cabir worm attacked Symbian O/S phones via Bluetooth connections several years back). However, what is new is the trend towards open systems/APIs with over 2B iPhone Appstore downloads and Google's Android now accounting for over 20% of all smartphone traffic (http://venturebeat.com/2009/11/23/android-gobbles-up-20-percent-share-of-u-s-smartphone-market-says-admob/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Venturebeat+%28VentureBeat%29) It is the scale and biological nature of wireless devices that make the potential threat of a virus that could be easily broadcast or transmitted more significant. Apple has come out an blamed the users for creating the vulnerability since they were not authorized to modify their phones. But this brings up a larger issue as we head towards user-centric networks with 4G and the digital swarm where any device can work on any network (at least that is the vision!). Who is responsible for managing security in this scenario? The device manufacturer? Carrier? Application/content provider? In my recent book. The New World of Wireless: How to Compete in the 4G Revolution (http://www.whartonsp.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=013700379X) , I identified security and trust in networks as the largest uncertainty that could make or break the success of 4G as a future platform for innovation and economic growth. My hope is that these are just blips on the horizon versus weak signals pointing towards a wireless future stiffled by security issues.
Continue Reading...
November 2009 Archives
I see that the debate between Femtocells and WiFi in the home rages on (http://gigaom.com/2009/11/02/who-needs-femtocells-if-we-have-wi-fi/) The basic argument against Femto's is that they are just offloading traffic from the carriers network and WiFi can do this just as easily. To me, this is more than just offloading networks or having a better solution for voice than WiFi, this is about owning the gateway in the home. As homes become wireless hubs for everything from energy monitoring/control to remote healthcare, there will be an enourmous opportunity to aggregate all of this wireless traffic inlcuding the normal voice/data traffic. M2M traffic could become more prevalent than person-to-person traffic in the home over the next 5 years. Some of this traffic will lend itself to 4G networks moreso than WiFi, especially for remote objects that aren't on local sensor nets (like Zigbee).
Continue Reading...