"Black Hat, Other Conferences to Dig Into Mobile Security"

From McAfee blog:

This week many security researchers will converge on Las Vegas for the annual Black Hat USA, Security B-Sides Las Vegas, and DefCon security conferences. As in previous years, we’ll present and discuss many new security techniques and methods used by computer criminals, attackers, and defenders. A good portion of the new research will be related to mobile phones and devices. 

[...] 

Android Malware and ExploitsGoogle introduced an interesting security service, Bouncer, for its app market (Google Play). The company left out details on implementation or what exactly will prevent bad apps from entering the market. While this sounds like a good step to make it more difficult for attackers, this move also makes it much more difficult for security researchers to defend against those same bad guys. Security through obscurity doesn’t work and is only a delaying tactic. 

[...] 

iOS Threats and SecurityApple’s iOS has been getting progressively more secure with each new update, closing holes and adding preventive measures. We’ll hear about improvements in platform security from the manger of Apple’s Platform Security Team.
[...]
Mobile Hardware ExploitationOther talks will involve OS specifics. Researchers Stephen Ridley and Stephen Lawler bring their experience on attacking ARM processor-based devices. They will cover the research process that enabled them to create their two-day ARM exploitation training. They will attack Linux-based devices and build a test lab of devices.
Sometimes attackers don’t want to restrict themselves to one OS. The Smartphone Pen Test Framework (SPF) makes Android and Apple iOS devices into targets of a penetration test. Previously when we wrote “pen test” and “smartphone” in the same sentence, it meant that someone was exploiting a PC from a phone. Now it’s the other way around.  The framework’s creator Georgia Weidman, an innovator in offensive security research on smartphones, will demonstrate the DARPA Cyber Fast Track-funded project throughout the week. The SPF tests for jailbroken or rooted phones and other security vulnerabilities.

The Smartphone Pen Test Framework can connect to an agent on the phone to execute further attacks.

"NFC Payment Test at Olympics Will Inspire Mobile Attackers to Go for the Gold"

From McAfee blog:

Visa is testing out its PayWave contactless payment service at the Summer Olympics in London. Every athlete will get a Samsung Galaxy SIII phone enabled with near-field communication (NFC) along with Visa’s payment app. Contactless payments aren’t new, and similar payments by mobile phone have been tested by Google with its Wallet app and other NFC smartphones. 

A Samsung Galaxy SIII will be given to every athlete competing at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. 

[...] 

The Samsung Galaxy SIII goes on sale in North America and worldwide within the first two weeks of July. An attacker wishing to target the device can purchase one easily and use Mulliner’s research to help find vulnerabilities and eventually develop exploits to steal a victim’s credit card. The large number of readers at the Olympics will provide places where a successful attacker can use stolen credentials to make purchases. The Olympics will also provide a concentrated pool of targets (people and phones) to pilfer from–especially if everyone is busy watching who wins the medals and not worrying about where his or her phone is.