SANS InfoSec Reading Room - PDAs and Other Mobile Devices

Most of the computer security white papers in the Reading Room have been written by students seeking GIAC certification to fulfill part of their certification requirements and are provided by SANS as a resource to benefit the security community at large. SANS attempts to ensure the accuracy of information, but papers are published "as is". Errors or inconsistencies may exist or may be introduced over time as material becomes dated. If you suspect a serious error, please contact webmaster@sans.org.

Featuring 16 papers as of May 23, 2013

Website Security for Mobile

By: Alan Ho (posted on April 16, 2013)

Smartphones and Tablets are very popular nowadays, according to the study from Canalys (2012) in 2011Q4, which shows that global shipment for smartphones has a growth of more than 62% and growth of around 275% for pads.

Reverse Engineering Of Malware On Android

By: Vibha Manjunath (posted on September 12, 2011)

Smartphones have gained tremendous popularity over the last few years. In this growing market of smartphones, Android, an open source platform of Google has become one of the most popular Operating Systems. Android is mainly used in smartphones and tablets.

Malicious Android Applications: Risks and Exploitation

By: Joany Boutet (posted on December 22, 2010)

Android is an open-source mobile operating system, based upon a modified version of the Linux kernel, initially developed by Android Inc., a firm purchased by Google in 2005. A Gartner study released on November 2010 outlined that Android has become the second-most popular OS in the world (Gartner, 11/2010). The growth of Android has exceeded their previous study, released last year, in which they had predicted that Android will be the No.2 worldwide mobile operating system in 2012 (The H, 08/10/2009). According to another Gartner study (Gartner, 08/2010)., there will be only a slight difference between Symbian and Android market share in 2014: 30.2% for Symbian against 29.6% for Android.

Wireless Mobile Security

By: Erik Couture (posted on December 3, 2010)

Mobile Security: Current threats and emerging protective measures

Security Policy for the use of handheld devices in corporate environments

By: Nicolas Guerin (posted on June 24, 2008)

Auditing Nokia Communicator 9500 in Enterprise Context

By: Leonard Ong (posted on May 17, 2005)

Companies' confidential information can be stored in the device, and a compromise on the device will pose risks to companies. The paper aims to describe an audit on Nokia Communicator 9500 implementation in Enterprise context.

Securing PDAs in the Health Care Environment

By: Sarah H. Blanton (posted on October 31, 2003)

This paper discusses the ways to secure PDAs, especially for use in the health care industry.

The Dilemma of PDA Security: An Overview

By: Daniel M. Lyon (posted on October 31, 2003)

This paper examines the security vulnerabilities of PDAs and various tools to secure hand-held devices.

Wireless Security: Blackberry by Research In Motion

By: Jeff Danielson (posted on October 31, 2003)

This paper presents an introduction to the Blackberry Wireless Email devices as well as suggestions to help Information Security Professionals minimize the risk of using such devices

The PDA as a Threat Vector

By: Richard Price (posted on October 31, 2003)

This paper addresses the threat to information security posed by the PDA (including related devices such as smartphones).

Handheld Security: A Layered Approach

By: Nelson Beach (posted on October 31, 2003)

This paper describes a four-layered approach to security for mobile computing with a PDA.

Pocket PC - Secure or Unsecured?

By: Darrin Murriner (posted on October 31, 2003)

This paper examines some of the steps that can be taken to secure the information stored on PDAs.

Security Vulnerabilities in the Palm OS version 3.x

By: Laura Thomas (posted on October 31, 2003)

This article will examine the security features standard with the Palm OS(R) version 3.x, their vulnerabilities, and some alternative security software which help remedy these vulnerabilities. The classic ideals of information security apply to a Palm device as well as to a network.

PDAs in the Corporate Environment

By: Dave Croxton (posted on October 31, 2003)

This paper examines the security concerns of the PDA Operating Systems Palm and Windows CE ("Pocket PC").

Securely Integrating iOS Devices into the Business Environment

By: Joshua Brower (posted on )

iOS is the name of Apple’s mobile operating system. Previous to June 2010, it was known as the iPhone OS. Released in the summer of 2007, the first generation iPhone OS was a spectacular hit in the blackberry-dominated smartphone market.

Security Implications of iOS

By: Kiel Wadner (posted on )

In the last two years, smartphone market penetration has gone from 16% to 23% (Kellog, 2010).