This month I
will outline some of the more common pitfalls around with the increased use of
newer technology. The items listed in this article are by no means the full
list but they represent some of the more common pitfalls.
Smart Phone Scamming
The promise
of the Android and Iphone operating systems was that they would be impervious
to virus attack from installing themselves onto the device. Unfortunately,
while that may have been true when first they were introduced the scammers and
virus writers have adapted the way they target you so that it is no longer
necessary to actually get the virus on the device to achieve their goals.
As there
are few anti-virus/anti-scam products available for smart phones you are wide
open to being scammed in a variety of ways when internet browsing or using mail
from your phone or tablet. Even worse the device may be used to get you to
share one or more of your passwords and from there the scammer can access your
cloud storage, email, and also other devices you use. It is
not uncommon for myself and other technicians in my group to find that the
original breach of security in companies and personal computers originated from
a smart phone or tablet.
Exercise
extreme caution when browsing from phones and working with your email.
Scammers
are smart and if you drop your guard will get you. Remember the scammers are always two steps
ahead of Microsoft and Google so do not rely on the safeguards promised by
these companies.
Browser Hijacking
This is
increasingly one of the methods used to hijack smart devices. The user is
fooled into believing they must download or install an app and the hacker gains
virtual control of the device. This type of hack is being used by the
ransomware writers to target smartphone users.
Rooting Android
This
involves disabling the built-in security on android smart phones and it is
increasingly becoming common for users to do this. The reason is usually
because some app or other that enables illegal viewing of media requires or
suggests it. Once you root your smart phone or allow someone else to do it you
have opened the door to the scammers. Don’t do it!
