Blackjacking

Chapter 0. Protecting the Enterprise PC and LAN from Cell Phones

Cell phones are capable of doing considerably more than simply making phone calls. They are actually small computers and they need to be treated as such. The threats cell phones bring to the enterprise, LAN, and PC include the following:

• Exposing enterprise email

• Collecting information clandestinely

• Serving as a tool to transfer malware

• Serving as a tool to export enterprise data

Each of these scenarios is very real and needs to be acknowledged and addressed by the enterprise. This chapter will cover these threats and how to address them.

Cell Phones May Bring in Malware

Memory cards are great ways to enhance the data‐storage capabilities of small devices, such as cell phones. They can also be a conduit of trouble for the enterprise.

Nathan Rogers was a well‐respected scientist for a leading animal‐research organization. Nathan wasn't much of a gamer, though he would frequently play a few of them on his cell phone while traveling to work. He lived in a large city and on cold winter days, playing the games made the train ride that much easier.

One day, Nathan's cell phone began acting strangely. He decided to back up the data on it, so he took the memory card out of it and connected the card to his PC. His cell phone still didn't work very well; most of the applications stopped operating. Nathan contacted his IT department and he was given a new phone.

Later that day, the IT department noticed that malware was rapidly spreading ...