Mobile Operating System Security A PRESENTATION BY DANIEL ADAMS CSC 345 DR. BOX

A brief history Palm OS ◦First mobile operating system ◦Released in 1996 ◦Lacked a file system Windows CE ◦Windows for embedded systems ◦Also released in 1996 Symbian OS ◦Released on Ericsson R380 in 1999 ◦First modern OS on a smartphone

A brief history BlackBerry ◦Released first smartphone in 2002 ◦Many business productivity applications iOS ◦Released in 2007 ◦Marketed as an “Internet communicator” Android ◦Version 1.0 released on HTC Dream in 2008 ◦Free and open source, developed by Google

Why should I worry about protecting my device? o Loss of services o Loss of data o Compromise of privacy o Potential fraudulent charges

Types of threats Denial of service ◦Unable to access resources ◦Caused by bugs or attacks Malware ◦Not as prevalent on mobile devices as computers ◦Can include ◦Viruses ◦Worms ◦Trojans ◦Rootkits

Safeguards Malware prevention ◦iOS: Apple must approve apps put on app store ◦Android: Google scans apps put on store and on phone ◦Windows Phone: Microsoft must approve apps put on app store Malware removal ◦Multitude of antimalware Android apps in app store Secure Boot ◦Uses known cryptographic signatures during boot to detect tampering by a rootkit

Safeguards SELinux ◦Security Enhanced Linux ◦Used by Android to control access to rescources File Permissions ◦Prevent processes from accessing whatever file they want ◦Can stop malware from accessing critical OS files Memory Protection ◦Prevents processes from gaining higher privledges

Safeguards Authentication ◦PIN, passcode, pattern, facial recognition ◦Thin layer of protection against theft Device encryption ◦Renders data on phone unreadable without key ◦Virtually impossible to crack