NEMESYS: First Year Project Experience in Telecom Italia Information Technology

Nowadays smartphones are ubiquitous, their usage continues to grow all over the world. With the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) estimating global mobile subscriptions at 6 billion at the end of 2011, it is calculated that global smartphones penetration is now 16.7 percent [7]. Smartphones are devices built on full-fledged operating systems, with advanced computing capabilities and enhanced connectivity (3G/4G, Wi-fi, bluetooth). They are also personal digital assistants, media players, compact digital cameras, video cameras, GPS navigation devices, and even tuners for musical instruments. Smartphones are also beginning to be used for direct paying (like debit cards), and to get access to enterprise premises. They are all equipped with web browsers and other network applications that use highspeed Wi-fi data access and mobile broadband, or proximity bluetooth access. Mobile application developers have immediately understood the opportunity presented by smartphones deployment, and, at the present time, mobile applications stores are the major drivers of smartphones adoption in everyday life. Unfortunately, smartphones are also becoming attractive for cyber criminals and malware developers. Ever since 2011, mobile malware has started to grow steadily. It seems that the trend is similar to that followed by malware developed for personal computers, but in a much faster way. Moreover, differently from traditional computer platforms, smartphones are natively a source of profit (since they have available the users’ phone and data traffic credit), and this makes them a great target of attacks. The spreading of smartphones also imply that Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) are required to provide appropriate protection and security mechanisms to their core network and, if possible, to their customers’ devices. Telecom