How to make a cheap mobile malware jail

Analyzing mobile malware without spreading it further can be very difficult to achieve, especially when one wants the malware to behave as it would in the wild.

Unlike computers which can be taken off the Internet, mobile phones can’t be unplugged from the carriers and still function as they should.

Axelle Apvrille, senior mobile anti-virus analyst and researcher at Fortinet, talks about an effective and cheap solution to this problem: creating your own GSM carrier whose signal won’t extend beyond the confines of your lab. As mobile malware is continually on the rise, researchers and AV companies should definitely consider the option.

Listen to the podcast here.

Axelle Apvrille hunts down malware for mobile phones, tries to understand how they work and writes signatures to block them. In particular, she has conducted research on Symbian Yxes worm and Zitmo trojan.

Before joining Fortinet, Axelle worked for over 12 years in cryptology, security protocols and operating systems. She has taught computer security in several French engineering schools, published in magazines, conferences, and filed over 10 patents.