Don't bite the smishing bait

Just when you thought it was harmless to read an unsolicited SMS, security experts have started warning that the next time you get an SMS telling that you have won a prize "" or any other such outrageous claim "" then it probably has a Trojan lurking inside.

Messaging services are becoming increasingly vulnerable to fraudulent attacks called smishing (the mobile version of phishing). This means that text messages might ask the recipient either to register at a website or try to get individual's financial data by asking him to validate a bank transaction.

"Victims receive a SMS message that claims their phone has been signed up for some sort of online service. To get out of this, the user is instructed to visit a website and cancel the order," explains Srikiran Raghavan, regional head, RSA Security. Some messages also warn that the consumer will be charged unless he cancels his supposed order by going to a web site that then extracts such credit card numbers and other private data or worse installs a malicious virus on to the recipient phone.

Security experts expect to see more virus, spam and phishing attacks on mobile phones using SMS, mobile internet connections, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Analyst firm, Gartner, reckons that over 212 million smart phones will be sold in 2008. These devices are, in effect, phone-sized computers with data connections. In other words, there are more and more phone targets for criminals.

Researchers at the McAfee Avert Labs have cautioned: "Mobile device attacks could become as commonplace as PC-related threats." Because SMS is widely popular and available to almost anyone with a cell phone, Smishing threats could eventually surpass email-related attacks, McAfee security experts maintain, especially because many users are now more cautious about emails.

Raghavan suggests that mobile users, especially ones with high-end devices, deploy some form of mobile anti-virus protection to quell potential smishing threats. McAfee, RSA Security, Trend Micro, Symbian and Symantec offer products to secure mobile devices among others.