MUNICH, Germany, November 15 /PRNewswire/ --
- SecurStar: Cell Phone Vulnerabilities Detected
Privacy is a thing of the past. The unthinkable has occurred: No mobilecommunications between people are transferred over a wire line, and no moreSMS messages can be sent without potentially being recorded by third parties,competitors or spouses. Simply by sending an invisible and unnoticeable SMSmessage to a particular cell phone, spying on cell phone users has becomechild's play. Wilfried Hafner, CEO of SecurStar GmbH, has developed a Trojanhorse, named "RexSpy", solely for demonstration purposes. The results arealarming. When the Trojan invades the system, the security vulnerabilitiesdiscovered by Hafner show the possibility of eavesdropping on any cell phone.The company gives advice on protection and offers a security tool free ofcharge that can be downloaded immediately at www.securstar.com.
In the past, information about cell phone viruses was sporadicallydisseminated through the media. Until now, however, these bothersome viruseswere not enough of a threat to be taken seriously. The securityvulnerabilities discovered by Wilfried Hafner and the RexSpy Trojan representa new benchmark in combating these threats. Hafner has kicked up a stormduring the security exposition "Systems" in Munich, by demonstrating thediscovered vulnerability and the real danger threatening cell phone userstoday. Using an undetectable SMS message, completely invisible to theoperating system, everything is over in a matter of seconds: the SMS sendercan spy on the cell phone user around the clock, as long as the cell phone isin use. All SMS messages can be read and all conversations can be listenedto. The surrounding areas can be monitored via the infected cellular phone.The Trojan can also access and forward complete address books. What's soalarming is that any programmer can develop a similar Trojan horseapplication without any great investment of time or effort. If anyone were tocirculate such a malicious virus, it would have devastating consequences.
Tough luck for eavesdroppers: Using the tap-proof PhoneCrypt
SecurStar is offering the comprehensive security solution, PhoneCrypt, inaddition to the Anti-Trojan tool (which is offered free of charge), toprotect against all "electronic eavesdropping," be it via Trojan horseviruses or other professional eavesdropping tools, such as IMSI-Catcher. Thissolution is not only for individuals, but also for organizations and peopleworking in the public eye, such as politicians and attorneys, and allows themto protect the information exchanged over their cell phones. The solutionactively eliminates the risk of the conversation being monitored or overheardsince it effectively eliminates eavesdropping by third parties usingmilitary-grade encryption. This is a pure software solution for secure verbalcommunication developed for cell phones, using Microsoft Windows, withoutimpairing the original functionality. A Symbian-based version for pocketcomputers and smart phones is in developmental stages as well.
Brief profile of SecurStar GmbH:
SecurStar GmbH, with head offices in Munich (Germany), was founded in2001 by the merger of ScramDisk Inc., Software Professionals Ltd. and TelstarIndustries. The company is currently a market leader in the field of harddisk encryption and computer security.
As an IT security specialist, SecurStar seeks to satisfy the special requirements of several industrial areas. Its core aptitudes involve the development and production of encryption hardware and software, creating new IT security solutions as well as consulting in the field of computer and network security.
The company aims to create flexible and secure applications that are easyto use and that are based on SecurStar's own developed technologies.
Its team consists of renowned specialists and well-known experts from theIT business. Customers include amongst others mobile radio vendors such asEricsson, companies from the automotive sector such as Fiat, Volvo, and VW,banks and financial service providers such as Citibank as well as ScotlandYard and Ministries of Defense from different countries.
Further Information: SecurStar GmbH Security Solutions Garmischer Strasse 4/V 80339 München (Germany) Contact Person: Wilfried Hafner Managing Director Phone: +49(0)89-90-40-68-125 Fax: +49(0)89-90-40-68-126 Email: hafner@securstar.com
Web site: www.securstar.com
SecurStar GmbH
Wilfried Hafner, Managing Director, Phone.: +49 (0) 89-90-40-68-125, Fax: +49 (0) 89-90-40-68-126, E-mail: hafner@securstar.com
