Replication Jails: The Why Before the How

This is probably one of the coolest podcasts I've listened to of late.

It is presented by Axelle Apvrille, Senior Mobile Antivirus Analyst and Researcher at Fortinet and she discussed how security enthusiasts can create or setup a testing environment called a replication jail for mobile phones while not breaking the bank. To put it simply, a replication jail to a mobile device is what a virtual machine (VM) is to a PC. The similarity between the two ends there, however.

In the cast, Apvrille pointed out that it is difficult to isolate an environment for testing for mobile phones (for security's sake) while at the same time allowing malware to behave the way it's supposed to behave while inside an infected phone (for veritability's sake). Current methods of isolation—like manually removing the SIM, using emulators, and setting up a Faraday cage—in order to prevent the threat from spreading to other mobile phones within a network are found to be flawed, Apvrille said. So in keeping with the objectives of what a testing environment should be, she proposed building up an exclusive operator network using OpenBTS, a free "software-based GSM access point". She explains how this is done here. Check. it. Out.

Jovi Umawing