Are BlackBerrys the Next Hacker Target?

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. Wired News is reporting that a security consultant has figured out how to wiggle in between the Blackberry and the server it calls home. The trick? The exploit is delivered from inside the network rather than the outside, because the network trusts the BlackBerry already. Sneak into that relationship and you can hop onto the network.

This isn't easy stuff (and thankfully it's not yet in the wild), but the hack program, called BBProxy, is set to be available for download sometime this week. It can either be installed via physical access to the device, or executed as an attachment delivered via email. After that, it works silently in the background to probe for network holes. Essentially, it works like any garden variety virus, only on your BlackBerry instead of your PC.

So if you're a BlackBerry user, what do you need to do to protect yourself? RIM offers advice on configuring your network against malware attacks [PDF link], but this advice (updated for BBProxy) is really applicable only to network administrators, not end users who aren't privy to the inner workings of the network. For you and me, the advice is unfortunately the same as always: Don't click on attachments that you aren't expecting, and password-protect your handheld to keep it secure even if it falls into the wrong hands.