Security in Bluetooth and other Mobile Devices - Coursework Example

Running Head: Security in Bluetooth and other Mobile Devices Security in Bluetooth and other Mobile Devices of the of the Institution] [Name of the Professor] [Course] Introduction The introduction of mobile technologies has opened new doors of opportunities to facilitate personal and business tasks along with enhancing the possibility of multi-tasking in a great manner (Goldsmith, 2005). As mobile technology matures, organisations and employees have been using mobile devices to access to personal and work related data along with performing work related wide arrays of activities. However, with opportunities come threats that can actually affect the entire mobile utility. Mobile devices and networks are vulnerable to jailbreaking and rooting that can offer access to other people. This can reveal entire set of information along with questioning the security of mobile devices and networks. The major purpose of this discussion is to investigate and assess security in Bluetooth and other mobile devices. Furthermore, the discussion will be based on identifying precautionary steps that will help in mitigating the impact of security threats in a well planned and organised manner. Security Risk in the Banking Industry Banking industry is one of the highest growing industries across the world and the presence and acceptance of mobile technologies in the industry has facilitated financial tasks and activities. Banks offer a number of mobile banking services in the form of mobile transfer, mobile banking, and mobile messaging. All these services require customer information and banking passwords. With large numbers of customers using mobile devices and banking services to save their time and energy, the threat of mobile fraud has been increasing at a rapid pace. Customers’ accounts are vulnerable to hacking that exposes them to security threats in the form of their personal information and data being hacked. Customers use mobile devices to transfer money from one account to another along with checking and updating their account information. When these information are hacked; there is always a possibility of security threats that can also impact the banking transactions in a significant manner. Many customers jailbreak or root their mobile devices using software and application of unknown provenance (Molisch, 2005). These poor security habits create good amount of financial risks for banks as they cannot control many of these applications. Furthermore, these applications interact in a manner that is hard to assume and often possess danger of security threats. It is often believed that hackers and automated malware can change the behaviour of these applications. Furthermore, they can also substitute account numbers, modify amounts, initiate fraud transactions along with recording personal and banking information. In order to deal with these issues, banks need to formulate a robust security framework that can mitigate security risks associated with mobile phones. Authentication of transactions and applications should be promoted and used to safeguard the privacy of users. Furthermore, the security of hardware should be doubled that also includes layers of security beyond what a mobile operating system can offer. Furthermore, multiple security features should be used to facilitate business transactions. This will help in mitigating the possibilities of mobile security threats to an extent (Han, et al, 2011). Strategic Implication of Wireless and Mobile Technologies There can be a number of strategic implications of wireless and mobile technologies. The strategic importance of mobile technologies cannot be underestimated. The rapid pace of mobile technologies adoption and innovative services provided through mobile devices have affected the strategic management of banking activities in a significant manner. Furthermore, use of mobile devices can help in saving operational and human resource cost for banks along with sharing the benefits with customers in a unique manner. Mobile technologies help in adding value to the functional and operational framework of organisations along with facilitating business tasks and objectives in a positive manner. The strategic benefits of using mobile and wireless technologies are further in the form of formulating new plans helping in grasping innovative opportunities aiding customers and banks’ growth in the long run. Moreover, benefits are shared mutually that further strengthens the relationship and thus making the entire business and banking framework more ideal (Larsson and Stoica, 2003). Factors Determining the Appropriateness of Wireless and Mobile Technologies Business managers need to identify the appropriateness of wireless and mobile technologies before implementing them in their organisational framework. It is important to assess the effectiveness of technologies in terms of benefits and usefulness. Furthermore, it is important to assess and analyse challenges in a critical manner. Safety and security pertaining to the use of wireless and mobile technologies also needs to be assessed in a systematic manner. For this purpose, a small pilot study can be conducted in order to analyse the loopholes of the technologies. This will help in being safe and secure. At times, hackers can get access to customers’ data and information and layers of security needs to be tested in order to estimate the challenges. When customers use banking applications on their mobile phones, they are exposed to security threats in the form of data theft that can affect their banking transactions. In this regard, it is important to analyse the safety, security, appropriateness, and effectiveness of wireless and mobile technologies by testing them in a safe and secured environment. Importance of Multiple Layers of Defense in Security Defense is the use of multiple layers of security to protect the integrity of information along with minimizing the possibility of data being hacked by malicious hackers. Multiple layers of defense in security can be in the form of firewalls, anti-viruses, hierarchical passwords, and biometric verification. All these multiple layers of security can help in safeguarding the interest of people using mobile and wireless technologies (Goldsmith, 2005). It needs to be mentioned that wireless technologies are based on radio frequencies requiring unobstructed path to offer high quality of internet and communication framework. Radio frequency signals can actually weaken the signal along with raising the noise that can affect the entire communication framework. Furthermore, electrical interference from electronic appliances like television, refrigerators, computers, and fans can also weaken the networks. Environmental factors like lightening, storms, and rain can also weaken the networks in a significant manner. All these interferences cannot be avoided to an extent but security can be enhanced in order to control them in a desired manner. Potential security threats in the form of theft of data and information, control of operating system, and access of key and personal accounts require high and multiple layers of security. The introduction of biometric security in the form of retina security, fingerprint security, and heartbeat security has added value to the security framework (Han, et al, 2011). Furthermore, use of passcodes and stringent passwords for wireless networks has also added value to the security framework in a positive manner. All these factors have actually strengthened the wireless and mobile technologies framework in a significant manner. Network Architecture Diagram to Mitigate Security Threats There are eight recommended security layers to mitigate security threats and a brief overview has been stated as follow: Layers of Security Functions Security Router Discarding attacks like sweeps and scans Outer Firewall Filtering of Traffic Inner Firewall Segregating anti-virus and anti-spam services Physically Distinct Firewall Separating DMZ devices Proxy Service Managing outbound traffic Network Access Controls Controlling devices seeking physical connection Network IDS and IPS Devices Intrusion detection services and intrusion protection services for malwares Host based Anti-Virus To protect from internal and external viruses Login and Credential Services For accessing control Conclusion Overall, based on the discussion, it can be said that the security matters the most in wireless and mobile technologies and becomes all the more important when security is related to banking transactions. In order to be safe from viruses, malwares, and data theft; high quality of trusted security measures should be implemented in the banking environment to safeguard the interest of people associated with the use of technologies. References Goldsmith, A (2005). Wireless Communications. Cambridge University” Han, C et al (2011). Green Radio: Radio Techniques to Enable Energy Efficient Wireless Networks, IEEE Commun Mag, vol. 49, no. 6, June 2011, pp. 46–54 Larsson, E; Stoica, P (2003). Space-Time Block Coding For Wireless Communications. Cambridge University Press. Molisch, A (2005). Wireless Communications. Wiley-IEEE Press Read More