Mobile phone (smartphone): what it is and how it is attacked
A pocket computer that reads company email.
Also known as
- smartphone
- mobile
- handset
Typing any of them into the editor finds this object.
Why it matters on a security diagram
It usually holds the second factor that protects every other account.
How it gets attacked, and what reduces it
How it gets attacked
- Approval prompts sent repeatedly until somebody taps accept
- Mobile numbers moved onto an attacker's device through the network operator
What reduces it
- Number matching and a limit on repeated prompts, which removes prompt fatigue rather than training against it
- Move off codes sent by text, because the number can be moved to another device through the operator and the code can be relayed in real time
- Turn off notification previews for authentication apps
Where it sits
- Group
- Endpoints and devices · The things people and processes touch directly.
- Whose side, by default
- Ours · Belongs to the organisation the diagram is about.
- Catalogue identifier
- phone
Reviewed . CC BY 4.0.
Others in endpoints and devices
- Desktop computerworkstation · PC · desktopA computer somebody sits at to do their job.
- Laptopnotebook · mobile workstationA portable computer that leaves the building.
- PrinterMFP · multifunction device · copierPrints, scans and often emails documents.
- Smart deviceIoT · internet of things · connected device · camera · CCTV · IP camera · security camera · sensor · door lock · smart TVEveryday equipment with a network connection: cameras, sensors, door locks, TVs.
- Plant equipmentOT · ICS · SCADA · operational technologyMachinery that runs a physical process: a pump, a valve, a production line.
- Machine controllerPLC · RTU · programmable logic controllerThe small computer that tells a piece of machinery what to do.
- Door access readercard reader · badge reader · access controlReads a badge to unlock a door.
The endpoints and devices group lists all 8 of them side by side.
Mobile phone on your own diagram
Open the editor, press N, and type smartphone. The object is placed and connected to whatever was selected, and Tab adds the next one already joined to it. Nothing is uploaded: the page is served with a Content Security Policy that forbids the browser from making any outbound request at all.
Open the diagram maker