Attackers Are Using Mobile Devices as a Bridge into Your Network

by | Apr/24/2017

A newly discovered virus, called Milky Door, permits attackers to connect to your organization’s network through apps on mobile devices. The users have no idea their mobile device is being used in this way.

This is an example of how, just because an app is in the app store, that does not mean that the app is safe. 200 apps in the Google Play Store are infected. Milky Door has been downloaded millions of times hidden in infected apps.

Apple is not immune to this risk.

One of the best ways to protect against this is to set up a separate wireless network, one that is isolated from your office networks, for employees’ mobile devices to use.

That way, even when a device may be physically present in one of your offices, the device will still be isolated from your network.

The same goes for laptops that sometimes leave the office. Help protect your network by forcing them to connect to a network that is isolated from your office network, even when they are present. They can gain access in the same way they do when working remotely.

A simplified version of this is for you to force all mobile devices, be they BYOD devices or company issued devices, to connect to the guest network at your offices.

The goal is to keep the phones and tablets off your network, so that infected apps won’t have such easy access into your network’s resources.

Milky Door has infected many apps before it was even detected. How many apps in app stores are infected with other malware that has yet to be discovered? To help reduce your attack surface, mandate that users only install apps that are essential.

Please forward this to everyone you know who is an executive, or owner of a business that uses mobile devices, so that they can improve their security too. Remember, you can suffer harm from hackers, even when it is someone else’s network that gets hacked.