Indian Teenager Creates Windows Phone 8 Malware, To Present it At MalCon
A 16-year-old security researcher from India plans to present a malware application for Windows Phone 8 at the upcoming MalCon security conference in New Delhi, India, on Nov. 24.
The Trojan, created by 16-year-old Shantanu Gawde, is said to work by posing as a legitimate app which can access a user’s data once activated.
Fortunately for Microsoft and Windows Phone 8 users alike, Gawde is an ‘ethical hacker’ from India’s National Security Database program.
It is not yet clear whether the malware is able to affect Windows Phone 8 handsets by targeting a specific weakspot in the system, or by duping careless users into installing something dodgy.
Nevertheless, it poses serious questions over the security of the Windows Phone 8 OS – particularly as it shares several similarities with its PC counterpart.
Microsoft has yet to see Gawde’s findings and has therefore been unable to comment specifically on the nature of the risk.
However, Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Director Dave Fornstrum has said the company would “investigate any issues disclose” in the MalCon talk and “take appropriate action to help protect [its] customers”.
Although finding vulnerabilities could be potentially damaging to the Windows Phone image, it could also be seen as a blessing in disguise by allowing Microsoft to discover and amend such security issues before hackers have the chance to develop more advanced malware.
