Threats

Increasingly sophisticated mobile software has improved features and +intelligence in mobile devices. At the same time, the increasing volume of +high-end mobile devices has shaped the profile of an average user from an +IT professional to an average-skilled end user.

This shift has created new opportunities for malicious parties who usually +want to gain access to the valuable information stored in mobile devices.

Types of threats +

The following list classifies threats according to the most common reasons +for security breaches, in descending order of frequency:

Intentional hostile action, where an attacker is deliberately +trying to harm the system
Administrative flaws in the management of a device (for example, +in a security area)
User mistakes, such as deletion of critical information or +typing errors
Technical failures that cause data corruption, deletion, +or inaccessibility
Other unpredictable or unavoidable failures and incidents +that cannot be prevented (usually system wide)

Types of malicious +software +

There are different types of malicious software that you need to be +aware of when designing new applications. The following common classification +is based on the way these programs spread.

Software that needs a host to spread:

Backdoors and trapdoors are debug-type entrances to +programs, for example, via hard-coded password access.
Logical bomb "explodes" under certain conditions, +that is, it stops working or corrupts data. Like backdoors, the logical bombs +can be unintentional, there may be a bug in the application that the developer +did not discover in the testing phase.
Trojan horse is a useful-looking software that acts +maliciously without notifying the user.
Virus modifies other software to reproduce new viruses.
+

Software that spreads independently:

Bacteria (also known as rabbits) reproduce +themselves as quickly as possible to jam the system and its services. A single +unit of bacteria is not usually dangerous, the strength comes from a large +quantity.
Worm spreads through networks and can act in a system +like bacteria or a virus.

These classifications are not strict or self-contained. For example, +a worm can be used to install a Trojan horse into a system. The Trojan horse +can then be used to activate a backdoor or logical bomb.

Controlling and restricting the access rights to your soft ware is an +effective precaution to protect the system against these malicious programs. +From Symbian OS v9.1, onwards, control and authentication of access rights +is performed by the platform security mechanisms.