49 / 96
Mitigating
Mobile Threats
The Check Point survey also
shows that 68 percent of respondents
say malware protection is the key
capability required for an effective
mobile threat defense solution,
followed by reporting and monitoring
(64 percent) and ease of deployment
(58 percent) close behind. PCs and
laptops are different animals than
smartphones and tablets, so it’s
no surprise that keeping these
devices protected requires a differ-
ent approach than traditional net-
work security often provides. The
report data also highlighted that
more visibility across mobile es-
tates is needed in order to ensure
better security.
This news comes as mobile
malware volumes continue to sky-
rocket – mobile ransomware alone
has doubled its infections in the last
year. It’s also getting smarter. Con-
sider HummingWhale, a new variant
of the HummingBad malware, which
has been found hiding in more than
20 apps on Google Play. It includes
new, cutting-edge techniques that al-
low it to perform ad fraud better than
ever before. In this case, the infected
apps were downloaded several mil-
lion times by unsuspecting users
before the Google Security team re-
moved them from Google Play.
HummingWhale’s command and
control server (C&C) provides fake
ads and apps to the installed mal-
ware, which presents them to the
user. Once the user tries to close
the ad, the app, which was already
downloaded by the malware, is up-
loaded to the virtual machine and
runs as if it is a real device. This
action generates the fake refer-
rer ID, which the malware uses to
generate revenues for the perpetra-
tors. HummingWhale also conducts
further malicious activities, such
as displaying illegitimate ads on a
device, and hiding the original app
after installation.
“When you look at how rapidly
we’re changing and evolving this
digital transformation with everything
going to the cloud and everything
being accessible via mobile, and
mobile overtaking the desktop, and
the Internet of things and all of these
great technologies, our data is going
places we never imagined it would go
before,” said Meyer. “It also means
we’re more interconnected than we
ever have been before. Shadow IT
is creating all kinds of problems, and
BYOD is creating even more prob-
lems, and security is losing control.
Most organizations’ security posture
is based on a physical, static, manual
approach – but that doesn’t work in
today’s environment.”
He added, “Organizations are driv-
ing their businesses forward and it’s
all about being more dynamic and
responsive. And that’s great, but we
also have to think about the security
implications of that.”
o
March - April, 2017
|
Channel
Vision
49