Location Aware security system for mobile devices

Abstract

Smart phones and related mobile computing device usage is increasing exponentially. Prices of these devices are going down, making them attractive to a larger audience. People tend to prefer mobile computing devices since due to their inherent facilitation of mobility, advanced features, connectivity etc. These devices make the possibility of ubiquitous computing a reality. As discussed in this report there are evidence that mobile computing devices are actually a convergence of various discrete devices such as GPS Receivers, Personal Digital assistants (PDA’s) etc. These devices have their own pros and cons compared with traditional computing devices. One of the main shortcomings of technology for these devices is security, due to the inherent mobile nature of these devices, the security controls that apply to PC’s aren't suitable for these types of devices. Malware targeting mobile devices are very complex, they tend to exploit a number of shortcomings of these devices. The currently available technology has shortcomings on addressing these security requirements. Furthermore current malware detection technology is new and evolving. Traditional approaches such as a virus scanners doesn't work in these environments due to power, processing and other constraints. This report analyses the approaches available to implement a location context aware security solution. An analysis of current research in this area is conducted. Several implementations of different malware detection systems, security policy management systems and location context aware systems are discussed in order to evaluate their feasibility of approach and effectiveness of the solutions. Furthermore our analysis includes the discussion of current malware behavior in the Smartphone base. Android is chosen as the platform for the implementation since it is widely deployed on many Smartphone and other mobile computing devices. Other platforms such as Apple iOS, Symbian and Blackberry features similar architectures and hence the concept discussed in this report applies to those platforms as well. In this report we analyze the feasibility of implementing a middleware based approach to provide a location context aware security solution. In order to select the appropriate approach several malware detection methods were analyzed.