Teams and fans from 32 nations are streaming into South Africa just one week before football’s World Cup kicks off, unfortunately, the spectre of cybercrime lurks in wait for the unwary.
According to Symantec’s Candid Wueest, many will be relying on their mobile devices for instant communication, news and to record their experiences. “Today’s smart phones are suspect to malicious activity such as phishing, scam websites and even drive-by downloads where malicious codes such as Trojans can be downloaded to the device,” he says.
To date, around 400 threats covering all mobile platforms have been identified and while this may appear miniscule when compared to the four million threatening the Windows PC platform, the dangers to users are very real.
“Bizarrely,” says Wueest, “ the biggest threat to fans is losing their phones. All major phone brands that provide access to the Internet carry significant amounts of business and personal information, which, if the device is lost or stolen, can be accessed at the criminal’s leisure.”
While some phones do offer a degree of encryption protection, Wueest warns that this can be bypassed. “Fans,” he says, “should back up photographs and videos to a PC or an online storage facility like Google as soon as possible.”
WiFi hotspots are common in South Africa and Wueest believes users should ensure they are valid. “Try and verify that they are valid services or you could very well find your phone has been taken over by a criminal,” he warns.
“Also, take care when using social networks like Twitter and Facebook as criminals often use them to ascertain when people will be away from home. It will certainly cast a damper on the experience if fans find they have been cleaned out while enjoying 2010,” Wueest says.