Since the birth of smartphones, there has always been a vigilance for security on these devices. As smartphones are generally handheld computers, they can also pose the same threats modern computers have. How to make sure that nothing like that happens to us and how to look out for possible traps?
Staying Safe
One of the biggest mistakes users commonly make is authorizing unknown third-party programs to edit contacts, access galleries and so on. To prevent being caught in a trap there has to be a common sense. If as a user You are unsure what to allow for programs to use, consult either Your friends or look it up on the web. The most typical mistake smartphone users make is to allow without looking for the software that is installed to have free use of their data. Some might suggest avoiding installing programs altogether. However, sometimes it may not be the case. To have extra prevention some users install anti-virus software. Then again it comes down to knowing which of these software providers are reliable.
For a person who is not tech-savvy, this might prove to be a challenge. But to be sure that You have done everything from Your part, always check the software ratings and comments below before installing it. If one sees the ratings and reviews are less-than-ideal and many comments are referring to the app being malicious, it might be worthwhile to reconsider installing the app in the first place.
As previously mentioned smartphones are handheld computers, meaning they are susceptible to most of the problems that computers have. So, for example, if a hacker uses these means to hack a computer will it work on a smartphone as well?
There have been cases when Big Data companies like Facebook have had their data leaked that contains information from millions of users. For an application like Facebook, that is on almost every smartphone nowadays such a breach of security can pose a threat of unauthorized data extraction from mobile devices.
Unauthorized Entry
Lately, such a term called web scraping has been on the horizon on many news and websites. Many may know it from the Clearview and Facebook scandal that has been roaming around. Web scraping is a technique that uses software to gather, analyze and format the data found on websites. This data can include profile information, names, contact numbers and so on.
Can web scrapers access phone data on devices that have been in contact with websites that these web scrapers use? It is highly unlikely, however, to be fully sure, do not authorize unknown programs to perform many functions on Your device. This will ensure that You have done Your part in securing Your private information
If an idea of data extraction exists, then in time someone will make means of having data extraction software that can grab data from everybody’s phones as well. We do hope, that by the time this becomes relevant, there will be security measures in place to prevent that. Be vigilant.