Security Issues in Smartphones and their effects on the Telecom Networks

Abstract

Smartphones have become so popular these days because of their extra services and their extraordinary features compared to regular phones. They are very similar to PCs and laptops; therefore they encounter almost the same security problems and even worse with respect to memory and space limitations. Since the manufacturers focus on development of new features and fast release of new services more than security issues, security in smartphones is usually neglected. Smartphones as opposed to ordinary mobile phones use different technologies, so they are more exposed to different attacks. In addition, they are interoperating devices which work between the Internet and telecom networks, so they can bring Internet security threats to the telecom networks and cause serious damages and endanger critical call centers. In this thesis security issues and different attacks against smartphones are presented and some countermeasures against the different types of attacks are introduced. In addition, certain security threats that Internet compromised smartphones have brought to the telecom networks and some solutions in order to make these threats ineffective are discussed.