Communications of the ACM
ab Rolls Out New Technology to Help sers Combat Mobile Malware Attacks
New techniques developed by researchers at the University of Alabama and Birmingham can help prevent malware from attacking smartphones.
Credit: UAB News
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) researchers say they have developed new techniques to prevent sophisticated malware from secretly attacking smartphones.
"The most fundamental weakness in mobile device security is that the security decision process is dependent on the user," says UAB professor Nitesh Saxena.
Conventional operating systems do not provide adequate security against these malware attacks, so the UAB researchers wanted to find a mechanism that would defend against mobile malware that can exploit critical and sensitive mobile device services. The researchers found natural hand gestures associated with three primary smartphone services--calling, snapping, and tapping--can be detected and have the ability to withstand attacks using motion, position, and ambient sensors available on most smartphones. If a user attempts to access a service, the gesture would be present and access will be allowed. However, if the malware program makes an access request, the gesture will be missing and access will be blocked.
During testing, the researchers found the three gestures can be detected with a high overall accuracy and distinguished from one another and from other benign or malicious activities to create a viable malware defense.
From UAB News
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