Hardware based malware steals contacts from all mobile platforms using only the Audio Jack!
Nov 28, 2012
Indian Security Research Atul Alex presented his surprise paper at the International Malware Conference, MalCon on what can be termed as the onset of next generation of hardware based malware that can target mobile devices irrespective of Platforms. Typically, one of the largest challenges for malware coders are to target multiple platforms. A malware for Android will not work in Windows phone, Symbian or Apple iOS, which come in way of malware coders. Also, devices such as iPhone are extremely secure and there is little that can be extracted from a locked / secure iPhone, unless they are jailbroken. Atul Alex's research abuses voice dialing feature which is enabled by default on all mobile platforms - and combines a bugged headset with a micro controller and code to steal private data. The bugged headset can also dial a pre-defined number by detecting if the device is in use or not and turn the phone into a spy device. Further, it can steal contacts from all devic...
