Sep 14, 2016
I Get Your Product to Market | Business Development, New Technology & Wireless Consultant | Africa
Is your phone infected with some type of malware or virus? Most people cannot say definitively, yes or no. The assumption is that if the phone is still working, it is probably not infected.
I think back to the early days of home computers and the internet. As soon as you got your computer home, the first program you loaded on to your computer after installing your system was an anti-virus program. Most did this before they would ever attach the computer to the internet. Some would even disconnect their computers from phone lines in the evening or shut their computers off so no outside force had access to their computer.
Now what you carry in your pocket is 100 times the computer. Yet, it may be connected to the outside world by cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Infrared Data Association (IrDA), Near Field Communication (NFC) and Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST). That is an amazing number of entry/exit points in your phone.
Think about what is in your phone---your contact list, music with passwords, video with passwords, business info, personal info, banking info, appointments, mobile wallet info, social media accounts with passwords, GPS with information of your current location and where you have been, housing and gate security codes, photos with geotags, text messages, voice mails, cameras and microphones, notes and many other things. What if others had access to some or all of this information? Or, do they already?
Recently, Nokia reported a 96% rise in mobile infections for the first half of 2016. At this point, most Apple iOS people tune out thinking it is just an Android problem. Alas, that is not accurate. As recently as August 2016, InformationWeek DarkReading revealed that 3 vulnerabilities were found in the iOS system that could be exploited by malware.
So what is a person to do? I would suggest going “old school” and installing anti-virus/anti-malware apps as soon as you get the phone. Apple Store and Google Play have numerous pay and free apps designed to protect you and your phone. So if someone says, “Did you know your phone was infected?” You can say with surety, “No way, not my phone.”
Let me know your thoughts. If you enjoyed this post, please like, comment or share. You can read other snippets from me on LinkedIn,https://www.linkedin.com/in/rbelt More to come...
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