Cyber Criminals Targeting Those Using PDAs, Smart Phones

Cyber criminals are targeting customers accessing websites using Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or smart phones by tricking them into purchasing “rogue” software.

“With an increase in smart phones, the number of cyber criminals targeting users has increased globally. They convince users to download software, but many PDA or smart phone users are not aware that it is false or rogue security software,” Shantanu Ghosh, vice-president (engineering), Veritas Software India, a subsidiary of US-based Symantec Corporation said.

He quoted a study conducted by Symantec Corporation between July 2008 and June 2009, which said cyber criminals use various online tactics enabling customers to purchase rogue security software.

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Shanthanu said cybercriminals could be sitting in some remote destination and still access computers or smart phones through the Internet to attract customers.

“It would create a false claim urging the user to follow a link to scan their computer or get software to remove the threat. But users will not know whether their computer or phone has been affected,” he said.

“Around 800 personal computers get accessed from remote destinations every day in India,” he said.

Ghosh said the company has come out with a security software for mobile phones and computers, and added that there was a need to create more awareness among the public in this regard.

He said many people have started using mobile phones for financial transactions. “Usage of mobile banking facilities has gone up these days and stealing vital details of customers can also be done by cybercriminals”.

“On such occasions, usage of trusted security software, either for a mobile phone or for a computer comes in handy and people need to know that such facilities do exist”, he said.

To ensure that companies offer protected smart phones to their employees, many enterprises now prefer genuine security software so that the device or any vital information cannot be accessed by cyber criminals, he said.