16 Aug How Mobile Devices Are Helping Hackers Obtain Data
Smartphones and tablets are essentially smaller computers people rely upon for a variety of purposes. These same devices have become viable resources for hackers to obtain data from unsuspecting individuals and businesses. Hackers do not play by the same rules as everyone else. Their main objective is to obtain data they can sell or use for financial gain on the black markets, such as personal information, corporate financial information, employees’ social security numbers, and so on.
It does not help that mobile device users download large number of apps onto their phones and tablets. Far too often, they do not pay attention to the terms and conditions, and just click through software agreements. Hackers take advantage of this and embed code within apps to obtain data right off mobile devices, like your contacts list, phone numbers, and email addresses.
Some apps even install adware onto the phone and track every swipe, button press, and touch made on the screen, and transmit this information back to the hacker. If you were accessing your personal banking information, the hacker now has your login and password. If you were connecting to your company’s network, the hacker now is able to use your login information and gain access to your firm’s internal networks and servers.
These are just a few ways hackers are obtaining data from mobile device users. The best way to safeguard your data is to password protect your screen and to never download any app from an untrusted source. In addition, it is recommended to store sensitive information on a secure location in the Cloud behind firewalls requiring two factor authentication. To learn more about how to protect the mobile devices your business uses with desktop virtualization and other solutions, call CyberlinkASP today at 972-262-5200.