Host-based detection and analysis of Android malware: implication for privilege exploitation

The Rapid expansion of mobile Operating Systems has created a proportional development in Android malware infection targeting Android which is the most widely used mobile OS. factors such Android open source platform, low-cost influence the interest of malware writers targeting this mobile OS. Though there are a lot of anti-virus programs for malware detection designed with varying degrees of signatures for this purpose, many don’t give analysis of what the malware does. Some anti-virus engines give clearance during installations of repackaged malicious applications without detection. This paper collected 28 Android malware family samples with a total of 163 sample dataset. A general analysis of the entire sample dataset was created given credence to their individual family samples and year discovered. A general detection and classification of the Android malware corpus was performed using K-means clustering algorithm. Detection rules were written with five major functions for automatic scanning, signature enablement, quarantine and reporting the scan results. The LMD was able to scan a file size of 2048mb and report accurately whether the file is benign or malicious. The K-means clustering algorithm used was set to 5 iteration training phases and was able to classify accurately the malware corpus into benign and malicious files. The obtained result shows that some Android families exploit potential privileges on mobile devices. Information leakage from the victim’s device without consent and payload deposits are some of the results obtained. The result calls proactive measures rather than proactive in tackling malware infection on Android based mobile devices

Assured Android Execution Environments

Current cybersecurity best practices, techniques, tactics and procedures are insufficient to ensure the protection of Android systems. Software tools leveraging formal methods use mathematical means to assure both a design and implementation for a system and these methods can be used to provide security assurances. The goal of this research is to determine methods of assuring isolation when executing Android software in a contained environment. Specifically, this research demonstrates security properties relevant to Android software containers can be formally captured and validated, and that an implementation can be formally verified to satisfy a corresponding specification. A three-stage methodology called The Formal Verification Cycle is presented. This cycle focuses on the iteration over a set of security properties to validate each within a specification and their verification within a software implementation. A security property can be validated when its functional language prototype (e.g. a Haskell coded version of the property) is converted and processed by a formal method (e.g. a theorem proof assistant). This validation of the property enables the definition of the property in a software specification, which can be implemented separately in an imperative programming language (e.g. the Go programming language). Once the implementation is complete another formal method can be used (e.g. symbolic execution) to verify the imperative implementation satisfies the validated specification. Successful completion of this cycle shows a given implementation is equivalent to a functional language prototype, and this cycle assures a specification for the original desired security properties was properly implemented. This research shows an application of this cycle to develop Assured Android Execution Environments

A taxonomy of attacks and a survey of defence mechanisms for semantic social engineering attacks

Social engineering is used as an umbrella term for a broad spectrum of computer exploitations that employ a variety of attack vectors and strategies to psychologically manipulate a user. Semantic attacks are the specific type of social engineering attacks that bypass technical defences by actively manipulating object characteristics, such as platform or system applications, to deceive rather than directly attack the user. Commonly observed examples include obfuscated URLs, phishing emails, drive-by downloads, spoofed web- sites and scareware to name a few. This paper presents a taxonomy of semantic attacks, as well as a survey of applicable defences. By contrasting the threat landscape and the associated mitigation techniques in a single comparative matrix, we identify the areas where further research can be particularly beneficial

Security Analysis of Simpel Desa using Mobile Security Framework and ISO 27002:2013

The Personal Identification Number or KTP is prone to be stolen and used by unwanted parties, this is also a possibility for the Simpel Desa, a village administration application that also contain and use the Personal Identification Number. This study aims to detect information security vulnerabilities. This study aims to analyze security vulnerabilities in applications using MobSF and ISO 27002:2013. MobSF is used for penetration testing for malware in applications. In MobSF the Simpel Desa application is analyzed in two ways, namely static and dynamic. ISO 27002:2013 is used to map the findings of vulnerabilities and potential misuse of information so that they get accurate analysis results. The control used is domain 9 (access control) and 10 (cryptography). The results obtained in the static analysis found the existence of vulnerabilities in aspects of cryptography and permission access. The dynamic analysis found that Root Detection and Debugger Check Bypass had not been implemented. Overall, based on ISO 27002:2013 information security has not been maximally implemented. The recommendations given focus on the aspects of application permissions and access rights, user authentication, and the implementation of information security.The Personal Identification Number or KTP is prone to be stolen and used by unwanted parties, this is also a possibility for the Simpel Desa, a village administration application that also contain and use the Personal Identification Number. This study aims to detect information security vulnerabilities. This study aims to analyze security vulnerabilities in applications using MobSF and ISO 27002:2013. MobSF is used for penetration testing for malware in applications. In MobSF the Simpel Desa application is analyzed in two ways, namely static and dynamic. ISO 27002:2013 is used to map the findings of vulnerabilities and potential misuse of information so that they get accurate analysis results. The control used is domain 9 (access control) and 10 (cryptography). The results obtained in the static analysis found the existence of vulnerabilities in aspects of cryptography and permission access. The dynamic analysis found that Root Detection and Debugger Check Bypass had not been implemented. Overall, based on ISO 27002:2013 information security has not been maximally implemented. The recommendations given focus on the aspects of application permissions and access rights, user authentication, and the implementation of information security

Advanced Topics in Systems Safety and Security

This book presents valuable research results in the challenging field of systems (cyber)security. It is a reprint of the Information (MDPI, Basel) - Special Issue (SI) on Advanced Topics in Systems Safety and Security. The competitive review process of MDPI journals guarantees the quality of the presented concepts and results. The SI comprises high-quality papers focused on cutting-edge research topics in cybersecurity of computer networks and industrial control systems. The contributions presented in this book are mainly the extended versions of selected papers presented at the 7th and the 8th editions of the International Workshop on Systems Safety and Security—IWSSS. These two editions took place in Romania in 2019 and respectively in 2020. In addition to the selected papers from IWSSS, the special issue includes other valuable and relevant contributions. The papers included in this reprint discuss various subjects ranging from cyberattack or criminal activities detection, evaluation of the attacker skills, modeling of the cyber-attacks, and mobile application security evaluation. Given this diversity of topics and the scientific level of papers, we consider this book a valuable reference for researchers in the security and safety of systems

Information security concerns around enterprise bring your own device adoption in South African higher education institutions

The research carried out in this thesis is an investigation into the information security concerns around the use of personally-owned mobile devices within South African universities. This concept, which is more commonly known as Bring Your Own Device or BYOD has raised many data loss concerns for organizational IT Departments across various industries worldwide. Universities as institutions are designed to facilitate research and learning and as such, have a strong culture toward the sharing of information which complicates management of these data loss concerns even further. As such, the objectives of the research were to determine the acceptance levels of BYOD within South African universities in relation to the perceived security risks. Thereafter, an investigation into which security practices, if any, that South African universities are using to minimize the information security concerns was carried out by means of a targeted online questionnaire. An extensive literature review was first carried out to evaluate the motivation for the research and to assess advantages of using Smartphone and Tablet PC’s for work related purposes. Thereafter, to determine security concerns, other surveys and related work was consulted to determine the relevant questions needed by the online questionnaire. The quantity of comprehensive academic studies concerning the security aspects of BYOD within organizations was very limited and because of this reason, the research took on a highly exploratory design. Finally, the research deliberated on the results of the online questionnaire and concluded with a strategy for the implementation of a mobile device security strategy for using personally-owned devices in a work-related environment

Usability and Security in Medication. Administration Applications

The traditional process of filling the medicine trays and dispensing the medicines to the patients in the hospitals is manually done by reading the printed paper medicinechart. This process can be very strenuous and error-prone, given the number of sub-tasksinvolved in the entire workflow and the dynamic nature of the work environment.Therefore, efforts are being made to digitalise the medication dispensation process byintroducing a mobile application called Smart Dosing application. The introduction ofthe Smart Dosing application into hospital workflow raises security concerns and callsfor security requirement analysis. This thesis is written as a part of the smart medication management project at EmbeddedSystems Laboratory, A˚bo Akademi University. The project aims at digitising the medicine dispensation process by integrating information from various health systems, and making them available through the Smart Dosing application. This application is intended to be used on a tablet computer which will be incorporated on the medicine tray. The smart medication management system include the medicine tray, the tablet device, and the medicine cups with the cup holders. Introducing the Smart Dosing application should not interfere with the existing process carried out by the nurses, and it should result in minimum modifications to the tray design and the workflow. The re-designing of the tray would include integrating the device running the application into the tray in a manner that the users find it convenient and make less errors while using it. The main objective of this thesis is to enhance the security of the hospital medicine dispensation process by ensuring the security of the Smart Dosing application at various levels. The methods used for writing this thesis was to analyse how the tray design, and the application user interface design can help prevent errors and what secure technology choices have to be made before starting the development of the next prototype of the Smart Dosing application. The thesis first understands the context of the use of the application, the end-users and their needs, and the errors made in everyday medication dispensation workflow by continuous discussions with the nursing researchers. The thesis then gains insight to the vulnerabilities, threats and risks of using mobile application in hospital medication dispensation process. The resulting list of security requirements was made by analysing the previously built prototype of the Smart Dosing application, continuous interactive discussions with the nursing researchers, and an exhaustive state-of-the-art study on security risks of using mobile applications in hospital context. The thesis also uses Octave Allegro method to make the readers understand the likelihood and impact of threats, and what steps should be taken to prevent or fix them. The security requirements obtained, as a result, are a starting point for the developers of the next iteration of the prototype for the Smart Dosing application.Siirretty Doriast