We all have them, resting there in our pockets, laying around close to you or even in your hand right now. That’s right, it’s your mobile devices. These devices seem essential now. It seems like we can’t live without them anymore. They seem to dictate what we do daily. Mobile devices are clearly an important innovation and a token of the forward progress of technology. As it may seem, mobile devices can be a person’s best friend, but also their worst nightmare. You might ask “why are they our worst nightmare if you have said all of these great things about them?” Well, as you see, technology that is created always has a good positive side to it, while it also has a negative side to it as well, and mobile devices are no different. What we have on us is potentially a life changing device or a diamond mine for attackers. As we do more and more things on our devices like online banking, sending corporate emails, using our devices to pay for items because we stored our credit card information on it, etc., we find ourselves less protected than ever before. This is because of the amount of personal data found on our mobile devices are not protected as much as they should. After reading this article, I hope to help you be more aware of the security of your mobile device, how you can protect your device and what to stay away from.
Like I said before, our cell phones are a diamond mine for attackers. Today, we are seeing more and more attackers switching from trying to hack into big network systems and corporate computers and setting their sights on cell phones. Generally speaking, mobile devices are known to be less secured and have a bigger information payout than other devices. This is because we hold so much personal data on our devices and generally have little to no security on them. Attackers can break into our devices different ways. A lot of these attacks are like the ones they use on computers. One way an attacker can break into our cell phones is phishing attacks. Just like the ones we get on the computer, attackers will send a link through email or something of that nature and wait for the person to click on it. When the user clicks or taps on the link, malware will be loaded onto the device without the person even knowing. Another way an attacker can get into a cell phone is with malware applications. A user can download a bad app that has malware already loaded onto it and it will load itself onto your cell phone just like any old regular app. Once the malware gets onto your cell phone, it can do many things from there. It can take and steal information, delete it, or even spy on you to collect more information. This is a scary thought, but there are many ways that you can stay safe.
First, do not click on any link or anything that comes from a person that you do not recognize. Usually, you can set up your email to send emails like this to your spam folder. Do not go on a Wi-Fi signal that is not secure or does not have a password. It is nice that places like McDonalds has free Wi-Fi that does not have a password on it, but it is a playground for attackers to grab information off your device using network analyzers. These network analyzers can pull text messages, emails, and other personal information off the network you are connected to. Be careful when using Bluetooth. Attackers can send information to your phone via Bluetooth. They can also take information from your phones as well. So, make sure you know the device’s name and ID before connecting to it. Be careful when navigating on the internet like usual. Be mindful of the information that you store on your mobile device. Try to keep social security, credit card, medical and personal information off your mobile device. Finally, use or buy anti-virus software for your phone. Companies like Norton, Avast, and Kaspersky offer anti-virus software for mobile devices. There are many more ways to secure your devices, these are just easy and basic ways to make sure your devices are secure.
Mobile devices are becoming something that we cannot live without. They hold our personal contacts, our social media accounts, our games, our financial information, and many more. Mobile security has started to become a focus in the world of cyber security. This is because of the high number of leaks or hacks that have occurred to mobile devices. These leaks and attacks are always geared towards adults, they are also geared towards children. Children today more and more children are getting their hands on mobile devices at an early age. Therefore, it is important to establish good mobile security on all devices and why good security practices should be taught for all. What are some ways that you secure your own device? How do you feel about places having free internet? How do you teach your kids good security practices? Let us know!
Interested in discussing the challenges and solutions on this topic? Please contact us at bizdev@sdsolutionsllc.com or call 540-860-0920.