armcjackson
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It shouldn't surprise you to learn that high-tech spies may be after your personal data.
Most of us have read about Chinese digital assaults, Google's (GOOG.O) Wi-Fi peeking and leaks from iPads of sensitive information. Along with the spies and hackers, there are security snoops much closer to home:
Your boss. Your spouse. Your parents, particularly if you're a teen using a phone on their plan.
And your oh-so-handy smart phone may be their new favourite tool.
Recent advances in smart phones give them huge processing power and superfast data connections. That means they're powerful enough to run sophisticated spyware that can become a stalker's ally or a jealous lover's private detective.
In fact, spyware now available on the Internet can be deployed to do creepy things such as monitor all your text messages and e-mails, provide access to your calls and even offer a live GPS signal that shows where you are.
Creepiest of all, spyware allows snoops to use your phone to listen in on whatever's going on around it. That smart phone sitting on your nightstand as you slip under the sheets with your partner -- well, you get the idea.
One other reason for worry: Though your computer is likely protected by sophisticated anti-virus software, your phone probably isn't. You might as well be inviting the snoops onto an old-fashioned party line.
How big a problem?
These sophisticated spyware programs only recently hit the market in a big way, so there's no hard data on how widely they're being used. Because they're designed to operate in stealth mode, we may never know. But there are signs they're becoming very popular:
* Sales at one of the companies offering spyware -- for use by parents, employers or suspicious spouses, its website advertises -- are growing at a double-digit monthly pace. "We are substantially over where we thought we would be," says Jon Latorella, the CEO of MobiStealth, which began selling its spyware around the start of this year.
* Two of the top three infections discovered on BlackBerry smart phones by security software company SMobile Systems have been spyware. So are three of the top four infections on phones with Windows operating systems. "We see infections every day," says Dan Hoffman, the chief technology officer of SMobile.
* Sean Sullivan, a security adviser for mobile-phone-security company F-Secure, cites the ever-growing number of features and the availability of programs for all the major smart-phone operating systems as signs that demand is robust.
You may assume you're protected by anti-virus software of the sort that comes with most PCs. Don't. Most phones don't have such safeguards, perhaps because a common myth holds that smart phones are less vulnerable to malware.
In fact, Hoffman estimates 98% of smart-phone users have no security software at all. This is pretty scary, given that so many people now use their phones like PCs -- to do financial transactions, check e-mail and store sensitive personal information and photos. That's the sort of stuff data thieves live for.
The investing angle
As more people become aware that the smart phone is potentially a huge portal into their private lives, expect sales of smart-phone anti-spyware to take off.
That means for investors, there's money to be made. So far, smaller companies such as SMobile Systems and F-Secure hold the lead in phone-security software. (F-Secure is based in Helsinki and listed on the stock exchange there; SMobile is private.)
But while the big security software companies like Symantec (SYMC.O) and McAfee (MFE.N) are behind, they will catch up. This will add revenue streams that will justify the bullish ratings now on these stocks at Morningstar, in part because they look cheap compared with other tech stocks.
Before we get to the company details, though, let's look more closely at that big privacy risk in your pocket or handbag.
link
Most of us have read about Chinese digital assaults, Google's (GOOG.O) Wi-Fi peeking and leaks from iPads of sensitive information. Along with the spies and hackers, there are security snoops much closer to home:
Your boss. Your spouse. Your parents, particularly if you're a teen using a phone on their plan.
And your oh-so-handy smart phone may be their new favourite tool.
Recent advances in smart phones give them huge processing power and superfast data connections. That means they're powerful enough to run sophisticated spyware that can become a stalker's ally or a jealous lover's private detective.
In fact, spyware now available on the Internet can be deployed to do creepy things such as monitor all your text messages and e-mails, provide access to your calls and even offer a live GPS signal that shows where you are.
Creepiest of all, spyware allows snoops to use your phone to listen in on whatever's going on around it. That smart phone sitting on your nightstand as you slip under the sheets with your partner -- well, you get the idea.
One other reason for worry: Though your computer is likely protected by sophisticated anti-virus software, your phone probably isn't. You might as well be inviting the snoops onto an old-fashioned party line.
How big a problem?
These sophisticated spyware programs only recently hit the market in a big way, so there's no hard data on how widely they're being used. Because they're designed to operate in stealth mode, we may never know. But there are signs they're becoming very popular:
* Sales at one of the companies offering spyware -- for use by parents, employers or suspicious spouses, its website advertises -- are growing at a double-digit monthly pace. "We are substantially over where we thought we would be," says Jon Latorella, the CEO of MobiStealth, which began selling its spyware around the start of this year.
* Two of the top three infections discovered on BlackBerry smart phones by security software company SMobile Systems have been spyware. So are three of the top four infections on phones with Windows operating systems. "We see infections every day," says Dan Hoffman, the chief technology officer of SMobile.
* Sean Sullivan, a security adviser for mobile-phone-security company F-Secure, cites the ever-growing number of features and the availability of programs for all the major smart-phone operating systems as signs that demand is robust.
You may assume you're protected by anti-virus software of the sort that comes with most PCs. Don't. Most phones don't have such safeguards, perhaps because a common myth holds that smart phones are less vulnerable to malware.
In fact, Hoffman estimates 98% of smart-phone users have no security software at all. This is pretty scary, given that so many people now use their phones like PCs -- to do financial transactions, check e-mail and store sensitive personal information and photos. That's the sort of stuff data thieves live for.
The investing angle
As more people become aware that the smart phone is potentially a huge portal into their private lives, expect sales of smart-phone anti-spyware to take off.
That means for investors, there's money to be made. So far, smaller companies such as SMobile Systems and F-Secure hold the lead in phone-security software. (F-Secure is based in Helsinki and listed on the stock exchange there; SMobile is private.)
But while the big security software companies like Symantec (SYMC.O) and McAfee (MFE.N) are behind, they will catch up. This will add revenue streams that will justify the bullish ratings now on these stocks at Morningstar, in part because they look cheap compared with other tech stocks.
Before we get to the company details, though, let's look more closely at that big privacy risk in your pocket or handbag.
link
yea on a side note, I'm content with my no camera iPod 