A Survey of the Current State of Security in Smartphones Term Paper

A Survey of the Current State of Security in Smartphones - Term Paper Example This is why they have found their way into our everyday activities, and entrust them with our most valuable information. The down side to this is that since these technologies are used by people everyday and hold our most important information, they are also extremely prone to attacks. Personal computers can be hacked, or could get viruses and spyware, while networks are the target of security breaches, and of course, smartphones can be attacked as well. These technologies are targets for the same reason we use them; they are capable of running our lives. Nowadays, you can do banking from your home or phone. You can transfer bank funds via your network, you can keep the passwords of your utilities in your Smartphone, and you can also keep track of your stocks and other assets through these methods as well. Attacks come in different forms and target different kinds of information. This paper will focus on one of the above mentioned technologies, the smart phones, it will look at the k inds of attacks that could affect a smartphone, and look at current literature regarding available security options for smartphones. This paper will concentrate on smartphones and it will dig deeper into the current status of smartphone security. It will be discussed as: What is a smartphone? Discussion of literature regarding attacks on smartphones Discussion of literature regarding security options for smartphones. ... on a personal digital assistant or a computer.† This means that technically, smartphone is a miniature personal computer or laptop that is able to make calls because according to the article, â€Å"A smartphone also offers the ability to send and receive e-mail and edit Office documents, for example.† These kinds of features allow us to do banking, social networking, communication of multiple methods, and asset management through these devices. This is normally used and abused by business owners and company managers that need to bring their work wherever they go, or by entrepreneurs and free-lance employees and contractors as they may get work orders at any given time. These functions are very useful for people on the move on a regular basis, and even for people who feel the need to stay connected on a regular basis but as advanced these functions may be, they are also more prone to attacks such as viruses and spyware. When comparing regular phones to smartphones, althou gh smartphones generally have more capabilities, they are also much more prone to receiving and being affected by viruses, as some older phones either are not able to receive viruses or even if they do receive them, most to not have the ability to run them. Discussion of literature regarding attacks on smartphones As we know, there are many different smartphones, using different operating systems, with different interfaces and applications, and as previously mentioned, there may be just as many ways of attacking these smartphones. This part of the paper aims to discus current literature regarding the certain kinds of treats and attacks that smartphones are normally vulnerable to. This particular portion also would like to touch on some of the reasons why smartphones get infected or become targets of