How Smart is your Android Smartphone?

Smart phones are ubiquitous today. These phones generally have access to sensitive personal information and, consequently, they are a prime target for attackers. A virus or worm that spreads over the network to cell phone users could be particularly damaging. Due to a rising demand for secure mobile phones, manufacturers have increased their emphasis on mobile security. In this project, we address some security issues relevant to the current Android smartphone framework. Specifically, we demonstrate an exploit that targets the Android telephony service. In addition, as a defense against the loss of personal information, we provide a means to encrypt data stored on the external media card. While smartphones remain vulnerable to a variety of security threats, this encryption provides an additional level of security

The Dark Side(-Channel) of Mobile Devices: A Survey on Network Traffic Analysis

In recent years, mobile devices (e.g., smartphones and tablets) have met an increasing commercial success and have become a fundamental element of the everyday life for billions of people all around the world. Mobile devices are used not only for traditional communication activities (e.g., voice calls and messages) but also for more advanced tasks made possible by an enormous amount of multi-purpose applications (e.g., finance, gaming, and shopping). As a result, those devices generate a significant network traffic (a consistent part of the overall Internet traffic). For this reason, the research community has been investigating security and privacy issues that are related to the network traffic generated by mobile devices, which could be analyzed to obtain information useful for a variety of goals (ranging from device security and network optimization, to fine-grained user profiling). In this paper, we review the works that contributed to the state of the art of network traffic analysis targeting mobile devices. In particular, we present a systematic classification of the works in the literature according to three criteria: (i) the goal of the analysis; (ii) the point where the network traffic is captured; and (iii) the targeted mobile platforms. In this survey, we consider points of capturing such as Wi-Fi Access Points, software simulation, and inside real mobile devices or emulators. For the surveyed works, we review and compare analysis techniques, validation methods, and achieved results. We also discuss possible countermeasures, challenges and possible directions for future research on mobile traffic analysis and other emerging domains (e.g., Internet of Things). We believe our survey will be a reference work for researchers and practitioners in this research field.Comment: 55 page

A Survey of the Economic Role of Software Platforms in Computer-Based Industries

Software platforms are a critical component of the computer systems underpinning leading– edge products ranging from third– generation mobile phones to video games. After describing some key economic features of computer systems and software platforms, the paper presents case studies of personal computers, video games, personal digital assistants, smart mobile phones, and digital content devices. It then compares several economic aspects of these businesses including their industry evolution, pricing structures, and degrees of integration.software platforms, hardware platforms, network effects, bundling, multi-sided markets

DO CONSUMERS CARE ABOUT MOBILE SERVICE PLATFORMS? A CONJOINT ANALYSIS ON CONSUMER PREFERENCE FOR MOBILE PLATFORMS

Literature on Mobile Platforms focuses predominantly on strategic issues in managing multi-sided platforms as well as economic issues of two-sided markets. Most of this literature is highly conceptual and empirical research on the perceptions, preferences and behaviour of consumers is lacking. Moreover, scholars typically focus on device-related platforms like operating systems and app stores, while platforms developed by mobile operators are seldom discussed explicitly. In this paper, we therefore aim to understand the criteria and expectations of consumers to opt for a specific platform from a device manufacturer or operator. To do so, we developed and executed a questionnaire for conjoint analysis. The data for the conjoint analysis was collected from 88 Chinese researchers and students. The conjoint results show that most respondents strongly prefer mobile operating systems provided by Apple (iOS) and Google (Android) over Nokia (Symbian) and BlackBerry OS. Moreover, application cost is considered to play an important role in the decision making of consumers to opt a platform. The findings of the study indicate that respondents hardly find the provider of the platform important, i.e. they prefer service provider and device provider platforms over operator platforms

Symbian operativni sustav za mobilne telefone

New mobile devices require powerful hardware and software to support customer\u27s needs which grew rapidly in the last few years. Demanding user interface depends of the operating system, and Symbian created operating system that seems powerful enough to support forthcoming burst of data services in the mobile world. Symbian OS is the common core of application programming interfaces (APIs) and technology that is shared by all Symbian OS phones. Symbian OS includes a multi-tasking kernel, middleware for communications, data management and graphics, the lower levels of the GUI framework, and application engines.Novi mobilni uređaji moraju imati napredan hardver i softver da bi mogli ispuniti korisničke zahtjeve koji su znatno porasli u posljednjih nekoliko godina. Korisničko sučelje ovisi o operativnom sustavu, a Symbian je stvorio operativni sustav koji je dovoljno snažan da može podržati porast podatkovnih usluga u mobilnom svijetu. Symbian OS je zajednička jezgra za aplikacijska sučelja (API – application programming interface) i tehnologiju koju dijele svi Symbian OS telefoni. Symbian OS uključuje multitasking kernel, komunikacijske i podatkovne protokole, grafičko sučelje i aplikacijske strojeve

Building distributed heterogeneous smart phone Java applications an evaluation from a development perspective

The advances in mobile phone technology have enabled such devices to be programmed to run general-purpose applications using a special edition of the Java programming language. Java is designed to be a heterogeneous programming language targeting different platforms. Such ability when coupled with the provision of high-speed mobile Internet access would open the door for a new breed of distributed mobile applications. This paper explores the capabilities and limitations of this technology and addresses the considerations that must be taken when designing and developing such distributed applications. Our findings are verified by building a test client-server system where the clients in this system are mobile phones behaving as active processing elements not just mere service requesters

Code White: A Signed Code Protection Mechanism for Smartphones

This research develops Code White, a hardware-implemented trusted execution mechanism for the Symbian mobile operating system. Code White combines a signed whitelist approach with the execution prevention technology offered by the ARM architecture. Testing shows that it prevents all untrusted user applications from executing while allowing all trusted applications to load and run. Performance testing in contrast with an unmodified Symbian system shows that the difference in load time increases linearly as the application file size increases. The predicted load time for an application with a one megabyte code section remains well below one second, ensuring uninterrupted experience for the user. Smartphones have proven to be invaluable to military, civic, and business users due in a large part to their ability to execute code just like any desktop computer can. While many useful applications have been developed for these users, numerous malicious programs have also surfaced. And while smartphones have desktop-like capabilities to execute software, they do not have the same resources to scan for malware. More efficient means, like Code White, which minimize resource usage are needed to protect the data and capabilities found in smartphones