iOS SMS phishing protection

[Pamela_S__Lee]

SandBlast Mobile offers SMS Phishing protection with the introduction of Apple's iOS 11 Filtering Unwanted Messages with Identity Lookup.

SandBlast Mobile version 2.66 includes a message filter extension that will detect SMS phishing messages and will automatically move them to the SMS junk folder.

The user must manually activate the SMS filter extension to enable the feature. Apple did not provide a method to enable the extension programmatically, so users will need to select it in Settings.

Activate the SMS filter extension: Tap Settings Open the Messages settings. Scroll down and tap ‘Unknown & Spam’. Under the SMS filter section turn ON 'Protect'.

How does it work? When the device receives a new SMS text message the message is analyzed by the SMS filter extension. In the cases where the message includes a URL, ONLY the URL is sent for inspection by Check Point Threat Cloud. If the URL is malicious the SMS filter extension moves the SMS to the SMS Junk folder. Messages for which phone numbers exist within the device contact list will NOT trigger the SMS extension and will not be inspected. THIS IS BY APPLE'S OWN DESIGN. Device & Dashboard Alerts Currently, since Apple does not provide any method to identify the device sending the URL for security inspection, there is no alert on the app or on the dashboard when a malicious message is detected.

Originally SMS Phishing Protection for Android devices was introduced in  v2.61, and enhanced in v2.66 to include a solution for iOS 11 or higher devices.