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Can We Achieve Secure Mobile Computing Anytime Soon? Jason I. Hong WMCSA2006 April 7 2006
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My Position
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No Secure Mobile Computing Soon Lots of important info on mobile devices Usability issues Cultural issues Economic issues
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Lots of important info on mobile devices This was just March 2006
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Lots of important info on mobile devices More and more devices out there More and more valuable data and services on devices –M-Commerce with mobile phones –Browser history and passwords –Unlock doors to home –Paris Hilton photos!!!! Observation: More and more incentives for theft –Steal and resell on EBay –Steal and punch through corporate firewalls –Mobile spyware (tracks location, already starting)
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Usability Issues ~20% of WiFi access points returned –People couldn’t figure out how to make it work My guess: ~80% of unsecured WiFi access points –When you are mobile, risk of eavesdroppers –Computer security too hard to understand, too hard to setup
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Usability Issues Phishing really really works –Exact numbers hard to find, but LOTS of people fall for them Semantic gap between us and everyday users –SSL, certificates, encryption, man-in-the-middle attacks –But simple phishing is stunningly effective Observation: need security models that are invisible (managed by others) or extremely easy to understand “Civilization advances by extending the number of operations we can perform without thinking about them.” - Alfred North Whitehead
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Cultural Issues Browser Cookies –Originally meant for maintaining state –Now a pervasive means for tracking people online –Embedded in every browser, hard to change Observation: Security hard issue to wrap brain around –Hard to assess risk of low-probability event in future –Adds to cost of development for uncertain benefit –Thus, often done as an afterthought (ie too late)
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Economic Issues
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Estimated cost of phishing in US is ~$5 billion Solutions already exist –Two-factor authentication –Email authentication But: –Non-computer scams ~$200 billion –Estimated cost of implementation > $5 billion Observation: Many solutions are out there, but: –Need to align needs of various parties (politics) –Need incentives (cost-benefit, law) Observation: Scammers getting more sophisticated –Market for scammers (setup + steal, mules, bookkeeping) –“Build it, and scammers will also come”
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No Secure Mobile Computing Soon Lots of important info on mobile devices Usability issues Cultural issues Economic issues IEEE Computer, Dec 2005 “Minimizing Security Risks in Ubicomp Systems” Invisible Computing Column
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Cultural Issues 1 Algorithm for handling important societal issues in the United States Wait for disaster to Happen If (disaster == true) { willSomeonePleaseThinkOfTheChildren() legislate() || overreact() } Repeat Observation: Slow and suboptimal
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