The progress of technology has made mobile phones became more diverse and sophisticated. Through a phone, you can, not only make call and sms, you can also access the Internet, take pictures, record a video, check e-mail, even chats.

We all know the importance of data that saved on our phone. It is private, and even confidentially. Therefore, in this article I will share some tips about how to protect your phone data. Here are some tips you can apply to keep your data secure, at least, to minimize the possibility of data theft.

1. Always make sure to check the status of mobile phone connectivity, such as Bluetooth or Infra-Red.

You should never leave those feature active (except needed) because it will open the possibbility of others to enter into your phone. Make sure the connectivity always turned off after used. Then when there is a request to connect to your phone and you do not know who is it, reject it for security reason.

2. Take advantage of security features on your mobile phone.

Generally, mobile phone equipped with one or more of security code to protect it against unauthorized use. This code normally known as PIN (Personal Identification Number) and PUK (Personal unblocking key), which is intended to protect SIM card.

• The PIN code is the most commonly used. You can set this PIN code for your own, can also enabled or disabled.
  
• In addition to PIN code, there is also called PIN2. PIN2 code is a PIN code that serves as a second protection layer for your phone. This code works the same as PIN code.
  
• If you enter a wrong PIN code for few times, your phone will usually ask the PUK code. PUK is a code that consists of 8-digit provided by the service provider of your phone.
  

3. Backup all your phone’s important data to the computer.

If you afraid that the data on your mobile phone stealed, you can backup all of your important data to the computer. The goal is that when the important data on your mobile phone is lost or damaged, you don’t need to worry because the data is already stored in the computer.

4. Do not forget to pull out your external memory such as mobile phone memory card (MMC) or SD card, if the phone will be repaired/serviced.

Often the phone owner forgot that there is confidential data on their mobile, in fact the phone will ’spend the night’ in the service workshop. If this happen, your confidential data may be copied and exploited by workshop owner. Therefore, pull your phone’s external memory before entering phone workshop.

As an information, now technology has been able to re-read all the data contents that used to filled a mobile phone, even if it’s already deleted. As ever announced before, Trust Digital company in McLean, Virginia, United States (U.S.), was successfully re-create the entire SMS and e-mail content on mobile phones. Unfortunately, the companies are reluctant to reveal what software they use.

The President Bush’s former Cyber security consultant, Howard Schmidt, at that time suggest to enter the wrong password 11 times in a row. According to him, it can cause the data on the mobile phone self-destructing.

5. For mobile phone that have camera, do not take picture of your privacy.

The phone has been regarded as an identity and confidential. There is possibility that other people will find ways to exploitated it contents. Therefore, do not use your mobile phone for personal interests that confidential and sensitive. For example, take and store ‘vulgar’ photos or personal video.

6. Do not recklessly lend your phone to other people.

Friends sometimes can be a contender, especially if your friend has a bad intention against you. Important data, whether it’s confidential images or secret video clip, can be copied and spread by your friend. So just be careful.

Hope these simple tips useful.

1. If your phone submerged, remove the phone from the water as soon as possible to prevent the inner components to be contaminated by water. In some cases, mobile phone’s casing is thickly enough to prevent water seepage. However, this will only sustainable for several seconds.
2. Immediately remove the battery from the phone. Cut off the flow of power resources is important to minimize possible damage to a mobile phone. Some electronic circuits can survive in wet conditions, if not connected with power resources.
3. Also immediately remove your SIM card to prevent possible damage or loss of data. You certainly do not want your important phonebook or SMS to vanish. Let your SIM card to completely dry before you check the condition.
4. Dry up the phone until really dry. Use a cloth that can absorb water. If any, also use a hair dryer. However, make sure your phone is not to hot. Do not also put in the microwave. The mobile phone that is too hot reported can explode.
5. Test the condition of your phone after it is dry. If the phone stuck, use a backup battery to know whether your phone or battery that is damaged. If only the battery that is damaged, you buy a new one, no need to go to phone-workshop.
6. If you do all these steps but you have a mobile phone remains damaged, well, seems you have to relying your mobile phone to service technicians. However, remember, you should find a trusted mobile phone technicians.

Cabir
Founded: June 2004
Target: Symbian cell phones type 60
Spreading via: Bluetooth
The damage: slowing down the cell phone

Cabir is the first and the most popular Symbian virus today. Cabir is a worm that spread via BlueTooth connection and entering the message inbox with interesting names. If you open those sys file and install it, Cabir will start to search another target cell phone that has open-access Bluetooth connection to spread.

Cabir also known as SymbOS/Cabir.A, EPOC/Cabir.A, Worm.Symbian.Cabir.a, or Caribe virus. The variant spreads with additional characters behind it name, like Cabir.Z, a variant from Cabir B and it spreads using velasco.sis system.

The Cabir will activate the BlueTooth periodically, around 15-20 minutes once, to get another phone targets. No dangerous damage, but if your cell phone infected, the battery will spent faster because it’s used to search another BlueTooth connection.

To prevent it, disable your BlueTooth feature. Activate only if you want to use it. Don’t install Symbian application with name caribe.sis or another strange name.

Skulls
Founded: November 2004
Target: Symbian cell phones
Spreading via: Internet
The damage: the cell phones can’t be used anymore except to calling and receiving calls only.

Another dangerous virus is SymbOS.skulls. Firstly, this Trojan named as Extenhded theme.sis, but today skulls.sis is more famous name used for this virus. This Trojan type damaging the system and causing the menu icons changed become skull icons.

Skull C, H, and S variant will change almost all icons in your cell phones menu. When installed, Skull H opened a notification message: “Install beta_092_free-sms-RM8” and Skull S displaying message “Install BlueNum Stealer”, and some other strange message.

Commonly when the infected application clicked then an error message will displayed. Not only could change the icons, Skull can damage all application that its icon has been changed.

CommWarrior
Founded: January 2005
Target: Symbian Cell phones Version 60
Spreading via: BlueTooth and MMS
The damage: Sending viruses’ replication via MMS to all contacts in phonebook, spending pulse.

Commwarrior included in worm virus family. This worm spreads via BlueTooth, MMS, and memory card exchange with random name xxx.sis.

The attacks type of this virus varies, but the most common is the virus will spread via BlueTooth. Some variant of this virus also will send random MMS to contacts in phonebook.

Commwarrior have many aliases names (you can imagine the wanted criminal have many fake names). F-Secure know it as Commwarrior, McAfee know it as SymbOS/Commwarrior, Trend Micro knows it as SYMBOS_COMWAR.

The last known variant is Commwarrior T. Commwarrior T and Q only infect Symbian ver.8.1 or earlier. This virus will sporadically spreads and sometimes opens an html page in your cell phones with message:

Introduction Surprise! Your phone infected by CommWarrior worm v3.0. Matrix has you, CommWarrior inside. No panic please, it is very interesting to have mobile virus at own phone. This worm does not bring any harm to your phone and your significant data. About CommWarrior worm for Nokia Series60 provides automatic real-time protection against harmful Anti-Virus content. CommWarrior is free software and is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, without any warranty. Thank you for using CommWarrior. CommWarrior © 2005-2006 by e10d0r.

Locknut
Founded: march 2005
Target: Symbian ver.60
Spreading via: Internet download
The possible damage: Crashing cell phone system (ROM), cell phone can’t be functioned, spreading viruses to other cell phones.

Locknut or SymbOS.Locknut is a Trojan virus that using the backdoor in the Symbian S60 system. This virus is dangerous because it can change the binary in cell phone’s ROM system, and causes phone’s operating system stopped and crashing.

Infected Symbian phones have some characteristic that will display messages like this: “App. Closed”, “AppArcServerTh”, “read”, etc. More than that, this virus have ‘additional’ virus like Cabir virus that will installed if the Locknut infects your phones.

Locknut E, one of the variant will damage important files in your Symbian system and caused the infected applications can not be opened. This way effectively will cause your phones totally locked.

Fontal
Founded: April 2005
Target: Symbian phones ver.60
Spreading via: Internet download
The possible damage: Locking the cell phone in the start up module caused the cell phones can’t be used.

Other most dangerous cell phone viruses are:

RommWar
SymbOS/RommWar (name by Symantec antivirus) is a kind of Trojan virus. This virus will put a ‘small application’ in the cell phones. This program will causes vary malfunction, depends on ROM software version of the phones.

The damage caused by this virus varies, like hang, the phones will restart itself, or the power switch will not functioned. This virus is a .sis extension Symbian application, the names could be varies. It can be very unique to make you interesting to install it, for example; theme.sis, xxx.sis, Britney_sis, etc. When installation process runs, the screen will display a message like this: “Install Stoper by WarriorMarrior?”

Today the SymbOS/RommWar has many variant, but 4 most famous are:

• RommWar.A
  RommWar A will use MIME recognizer to give it effects. The infected cell phones will hang and have to be restart, and it will happen over and over even after restarted many times.
• RommWar B
  This second variant will restart the cell phones and prevent you to run the booting.
• RommWar C
  Same as above, this variant will prevent you to turn on your cell phones.
• RommWar D
  This new variant causes vary damages, like cell phones can not turned on, or the power button not functioned. The miracle is, SymbOS RommWar installation sometimes comes from imperfect Kaspersky Anti-Virus Mobile installation.

DoomBoot
The complete name is SymbOS.Doomboot, or SYMBOS_DOOMED. Although the spreads is not as fast as computer viruses, but the effect will causes serious damages.

Doomboot is a Trojan virus type. Many variant have been founded, like Doomboot A, C, L, M, G, and P. Doomboot A makes the files corrupted, and after infecting, it will places another viruses like CommWarrior.B into your cell phones. The corrupted files will prevent you to run rebooting.

SymbOS.Doomboot.A for example, will duplicate the name like installation file for cracked Doom2 game. Commonly the file name is Doom_2_wad_cracked_by_DFT_S60_v.1.0.sis. Doomboot C will infect with another names, like “exoVirusStopv2.13.19”, seems like an antivirus program.

If it is installed, you will see a technically message, but after success installed you won’t see any sign or new icon. Sooner you’ll find that your phone battery will spent faster, because automatically it will runs the BlueTooth connection to infects another cell phones. The same method is used by Cabir virus.

The virus will prevent you to do booting when you have turned the cell phone off. If you have succeeded to reboot, you’ll need to hard-reset your cell phone. Your data, like contact number and photos will be lost.

CardTrap
The first cell phone virus which is built to attacks Windows-based computers. It will put 2 viruses file into the cell phones’ card memory. So many variant has been found, like CardTrap P, Q, R, S until double alphabets like CardTrap AA, AG, AJ, and soon.

Commonly CardTrap duplicating games application name or famous application name like Kingkong, Half Life, Battlefield 2, etc. CardTrap Z, for example, duplicates the name SeleQ 1.7 – Cracked TNT.sis.

Cardtrap damaging the system with turning off some important Symbian built in application. The specialty of this virus, that it could damage some antivirus application. Sooner if there is a chance to connect to computer, CardTrap will plant itself into the Windows-based PC and spreads itself.

Some variant could damage the keypad function and the third-party application, and spreads these corrupted files into the memory card and causing system chaos.

PBStealer
A cell phone virus that some people say comes from Indonesia. PB Stealer has an aliases name, SymbOS/PBstealer, a Trojan that collects contacts number in phonebook and save it in the txt file. It’s not likely danger, but the next method of this virus, it is dangerous.

PBstealer will send the txt file to other cell phones via BlueTooth connection. You can imagine that how important contacts in your phonebook could be exploited and used to criminal purposes. PBStealer D, one of PBStealer variant could compiling and sends the file containing contact numbers, to-do list, database, and notepad at once. To spread itself, PBStealer send 2 sis extension file via BlueTooth connection, ChattingYuk.sis and PBCompressor.sis.

AppDisabler
Like Doombot, AppDisabler places another viruses like Locknut B and Cabir Y to your cell phone. Sometimes it places Skulls J into the system and changing the icons became skulls icon. The most dangerous is, this virus will stop operation system performance and some third-party applications.

Via BlueTooth Connection

Cell phones that have a data-exchanging facility like Bluetooth will need more attention. Although the Bluetooth is ease the cell phones usage, it presence became a new threat because this is the main way that the viruses spreading from a cell phones to another. For example, the first cell phone virus, known as cabir A. This virus spread to other cell phones that connect via Bluetooth of the infected cellphones, it happens when the BlueTooth connection is active and recognized by other cell phones.

Via Internet Connection

Just like what happen to computers, Internet could also became way for viruses to infect the cell phones. You can say, opening the unknown e-mail from your cell phone, downloading ringtones, pictures, or some applications from the site. Just like on the computer, many cell phones infected by viruses from games site and porn site. So be careful.

Via MMS

One more way that viruses could infect cell phones is via MMS. If your cell phones can receive a MMS message and run what is sent inside it, your cell phones have potency to be infected. MMS not only could used to send a multimedia message, but application too. If a virus application installed, the virus will spreading fast.

Via External Flash Memory

If a cell phone viruses stay at computer, it possible the viruses move to cell phones via external disk. Be careful when you copying data from computer to cell phone memory.

This fact shows how adhered the association between “search” with brand Google. The results effective for Google. This search engine, although its arrival on the Internet business is later, evidently could drag the domination of the veteran. It could became as the ruler of search engine technology, then continued to attack Yahoo!, the ruler of the business-to-consumer Internet business.

Business Week reported, Google value is around US$120 billion. This figure far exceeded the conventional and digital majority giants company’s value. Time-Warner “only” valuable around US$80 billion, whereas Yahoo! personally only US$60 billion.

Google Success Philosophies
The success Google did not come automatically. The first Google success philosophy is strong self-belief from its duo founder. Anna (2002) mentioned that the self-belief is the key to the first success and the most important thing from everyone or the every company to success.

It seems when Google search engine technology was just found, the duo creator of Google experienced the difficulty to find “angel investor”. Many doors have been knocked on, but no significant answer. An investment legend–Silicon Valley suggested that this technology better be sold cut, with the price some hundred thousand dollar.

The second Google success philosophy is the innovation that never stop. Schumpeter (1925) mentioned this situation as a creative destruction, the situation where the innovation continually developed from the businessmen to create new social harmony, where the company’s status-quo finally must hand over “the throne” to the newcomer.

If Google only stopped at the search engine function, possibly Google won’t be the same at this time. Google is a hungry company that wish to produce non-stop innovation, at least until today. Innovations that not limited in satisfactory ego about technology. The innovation combined with the business aim, looking for the profit, and the company existence. First Google only “rent” searching license, afterward they combined the searching technology with targeted ad. The business scheme then changed. If generally the advertiser must pay in front, Google offers the profit-sharing system. Google paid only if the transactional is available.

The third and last philosophy, success mutual ism. Holden (2005) wrote, the success, both short-term and long-term, exist because of the internal and external successful. The internal success significantly Google must gather between “heart” and “mind” from the personnel organisation to follow the same success road. The external success means the success Google must create positive value added towards their success stakeholders, especially the consumers who are served by Google.