Some users have noticed that the Airscanner firewall has a conflict with the built-in WiFi access point discovery tool on the Dell Axim X30. The conflict seems to be tied to the non-standard WLAN built into the X30s. For now, as a workaround you can try using the following 3rd party WiFi discovery program on your X30.

http://www.airscanner.com/downloads/fw/WMAGS46.exe

The following note is courtesy of user Simon G:

"A quick test of Agere utility shows that it perfectly interoperates with CheckPoint SecureVPN client, where Dell Wireless utility didn't work. One weak point - this utility requires Wireless Zero Configuration to be enabled, which leads to constant pop-ups when multiple Wi-Fi networks are available. The Odyssey client can work without Wireless Zero Configuration. Also, disabling of Wireless Zero Configuration wipes out its connectivity database, forcing the user to re-enter all SSID and WEP or WPA key values if he decides to use it again.

Another utility I loooked on was Cirond's PocketWinc (www.cirond.com), which is another wireless client. Unfortunately, it doesn't currenlty support WPA and requires the Odyssey client to be removed from the system."

Please also note our security advisory here regarding the Axim's Odyssey client:
http://airscanner.com/blog/blog.php?blogid=0501151031

According to this article, "Criminal cyber networks have begun creating viruses to hack into mobile phones in order to steal sensitive information off devices which are increasingly becoming mini-computers in our pockets. "

While a smartphone might look like a simple device, it is actually a mobile computer - more powerful than your desktop of 10 years ago. Keep this in mind as you surf the Internet and open attachments!

If you think you have problems, imagine being a prince. According to this article, the prince had his phone hacked by News of the World.

The details are sketchy, yet I know for a fact that this type of hack is not only possible, but probable. The point is that it doesn't matter who you are, your phone is vulnerable...

This obviously doesn't apply to Airscanner customers. However, you might want to think of your friends and relatives!

A recent report lists a few scary details of the 1000 people surveyed:

• 44 percent admitted that they do not keep security issues in mind as they surf the Web via their phones.
• 45 percent of those interviewed admitted that they have already fallen victim to malware attacks.
• 39 percent admitted that they click on a URLs carried in mobile emails without first considering the security implications.

Ouch.

Do you take smartphone security seriously?

BlackHat 2009 (Vegas) has caused quite a stir in the mobile security community. Thanks in part to the recent release of the iPhone 3GS, mobile devices are finally becoming a target for researchers and malware writers. The following two links represent some of the publically available works released at BlackHat

Spoofed Cell Phone Texts Post Malware Threat

Smart Phones, Dumb Security