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CSO Gives SandBlast Mobile a Rave Review

by By Michael Shaulov, Head of Mobile and Cloud Product Management and Marketing posted 2017/08/02
 
I was delighted to read David Strom’s extremely favorable product review of Check Point SandBlast Mobile in CSO magazine a few weeks ago. Strom really puts SandBlast Mobile through the paces in the review, and in the process provides security and IT leaders facing the challenge of securing mobility in their organizations with a great deal of insight. In short, Strom found SandBlast Mobile to be a comprehensive yet easy to manage mobile threat defense solution, which is worth the cost to protect against a wide range of attack vectors. The review clearly demonstrates that it’s possible to easily deploy the most advanced security solution, without impacting performance or the overall ...

Android Permission Security Flaw

by Check Point Mobile Research Team posted 2017/05/09
 
Check Point researchers spotted a flaw in one of Android’s security mechanisms. Based on Google’s policy which grants extensive permissions to apps installed directly from Google Play, this flaw exposes Android users to several types of attacks, including ransomware, banking malware and adware. Check Point reported this flaw to Google, which responded that this issue  is already being dealt with in the upcoming version of Android, currently dubbed "Android O".   Technical Background: In Android version 6.0.0, dubbed “Marshmallow”, Google introduced a new permission model for apps. The new model consists of several groups of permissions, with permissions considered as ...

SandBlast Mobile receives highest security score in independent test

by Darrell Burkey, Director IPS Products posted 2017/04/25
 
Great news!  Miercom conducted the first independent, hands-on test of mobile threat defense products and Check Point SandBlast Mobile received Miercom’s Certified Secure Award! This is Miercom’s highest award for achievement in competitive, hands-on testing and according to the firm, “Check Point could detect and block 100% of malicious applications and network attacks and mitigate all device vulnerabilities, regardless of operating system.” The SandBlast Mobile team is proud to deliver this test and report to you. Founded in 1998, Miercom is a leading independent tester of network and security products from routers and switches to anti-virus and advanced threat ...

Introducing SandBlast Mobile: comprehensive mobile threat protection

by Brian Gleeson, Mobile Security Product Marketing posted 2017/04/21
 
Just how susceptible are mobile devices to attacks in enterprise environments? It’s safe to say that mobile cyberattacks beset every business. For 12 months, Check Point analyzed data from 850 companies around the world, and discovered some surprising insights: 100% of the organizations had at least one mobile malware attack The average number of mobile malware attacks was 54 89% of the companies experienced at least one man-in-the-middle attack 75% had an average of 35 jailbroken or rooted devices, a state that leaves devices completely vulnerable to attacks, since the process strips away all built-in security provided by iOS and Android It takes only one breached ...

The latest findings on Chrysaor (Pegasus for Android) are even more stealthy

by Check Point Research Team posted 2017/04/06
 
Earlier this week Google published a research about a new sophisticated spyware tool for Android, believed to be related to the Pegasus malware for iOS, which was discovered in August 2016. As Google wrote in their blog, the malware was most likely created by the authors of Pegasus – the NSO group, and shares many common features as Pegasus. What’s the big news? Chrysaor is a fully developed spy tool for Android devices, and can allow attackers to surveil their targets’ every move. Chrysaor has implemented elaborate modules to listen in on conversations, take screenshots and surveil the device’s surroundings, steal sensitive data and read SMS messages. This malware presents a ...

Google’s annual Android security report illustrates Check Point’s dominance in mobile threat defense research

by Check Point Mobile Research Team posted 2017/03/23
 
Google published its annual security report yesterday for the Android ecosystem. The report includes many commendable efforts by Google to improve the security of users, and fight back against the raging surge of malware. One of the major actions Google has introduced this year was working alongside security vendors to eradicate malware from the ecosystem, a task Check Point was happy to contribute to. 70% of the malware Google cites in the report was discovered and brought to the public attention by Check Point’s mobile security researchers. This is a good indication of the major role played by Check Point's researchers in protecting the entire mobile ecosystem, while identifying and ...

2016 H2 Global and Regional Threat Intelligence Trends

by Check Point Threat Intelligence Research Team posted 2017/02/21
 
Introduction New, sophisticated threats continue to emerge on a daily basis across multiple platforms: social media, mobile platforms, email, and web pages. At the same time, prominent malware and attack methods continue to evolve, bypassing existing security solutions, and tailoring attacks against the largest companies in the world. The devices we use every day are now subject to compromise and can be leveraged for attacks. Even the recent U.S. elections were targeted with significant attacks. The Check Point 2016 H2 Global Threat Intelligence Trends report provides you with the best overview of the cyber landscape; threats, data breaches, trends, attacks and predictions, based on data ...

Android: the Perils of Popularity

by Bob Matlow, Security Advocate posted 2017/02/15
 
Despite the long lines you see stretching from stores when a new iPhone comes out, Android phones rule. According to IDC, Android’s market share hovers at over 80 percent while iOS has a market share in the teens. Android’s popularity — and vulnerability to attacks — arise from Google’s decision to make Android an open OS. Being an open OS lets many manufacturers make devices that can run Android. However this leads to OS fragmentation when several vendors each release several models over several years resulting in thousands of active versions of Android. This wouldn’t be a big deal except each version has software vulnerabilities that must be patched. At best, it can take ...

Charger Malware Calls and Raises the Risk on Google Play

by Oren Koriat and Andrey Polkovnichenko , Mobile Cyber Security Analysts posted 2017/01/24
 
Several weeks ago, Check Point Mobile Threat Prevention detected and quarantined the Android device of an unsuspecting customer employee who downloaded and installed a 0day mobile ransomware from Google Play dubbed “Charger.” This incident demonstrates how malware can be a dangerous threat to your business, and how advanced behavioral detection fills mobile security gaps attackers use to penetrate entire networks.   Charger was found embedded in an app called EnergyRescue. The infected app steals contacts and SMS messages from the user’s device and asks for admin permissions. If granted, the ransomware locks the device and displays a message demanding ...

A Whale of a Tale: HummingBad Returns

by Oren Koriat, Mobile Cyber Security Analyst posted 2017/01/23
 
  Check Point researchers have found a new variant of the HummingBad malware hidden in more than 20 apps on Google Play. The infected apps in this campaign were downloaded several million times by unsuspecting users. Check Point informed the Google Security team about the apps, which were then removed from Google Play. This new variant, dubbed ‘HummingWhale,’ includes new, cutting edge techniques that allow it to perform ad fraud better than ever before.   HummingBad is a malware first discovered by Check Point on customer’s devices in February 2016. HummingBad stands out as an extremely sophisticated and well-developed malware, which employed a ...

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