Thursday, April 27, 2023
Few are aware of it, but the fact that an application is installed on the mobile can jeopardize our privacy. The key is in the ‘permits’ that request these requests and that we usually grant without stopping to think if they are really needed.
What are the most common permits? The storage unit, the agenda, the camera, the contact diary, the microphone, the received messages, the telephone application and our location. This allows every app designed to read our messages, to access the call of calls, take photos, listen to what we say, know where we are (and where we are going), obtain the telephone number of one of our contacts and consult the documents that we have saved.
Excessive request for permits
Manuel Carpio, CyberSecurity -Tutor at IMF Smart Education, explains why some applications apply for permits that are not related to their functions: “It is generally so that the company can collect and sell to third parties as much as possible behind the application, such as advertisers and data.”
The latter even applies to the most popular applications (such as social networks), which does not have to indicate something illegal. In fact, most of them indicate without Capujos in their terms and conditions, that is, the paragraph that we usually accept without reading after registering in the app of the app.
Verschillende kwesties zijn die toepassingen die door cybercriminelen zijn ontwikkeld voor hun doeleinden, vaak gecamoufleerd als eenvoudige rekenmachines of spellen, beschrijft Carpio: «Cybercriminelen proberen hun criminele activiteiten op verschillende manieren te verdienen met hun schadelijke apps op verschillende manieren: onze accounts teleurstellen door het gebruik van premium diensten, het verzamelen van persoonlijke gegevens en het omdraaien van persoonlijke gegevens en het verzenden van hen Advertisements. To this end, they may be an ‘ad hoc’ application that simulates a legitimate application, but that has hidden functionalities, or can produce an application that uses the vulnerabilities in the configuration of legitimate applications or the operating system of the device ».
Until the last point of view, the Secneurx security company warned a few weeks ago until 34 applications designed to steal data And even send WhatsApp reports in our name. They were present in the Google (Play Store) Application Store and added more than 10,000 downloads around the world.
How you can detect malignant apps
Is there an infallible formula to identify these malignant applications? That’s what it’s like. “Cyber criminals and scammers are too busy to realize certain details,” the expert explains, “such as the app icon or the name of the developer.”
It then invites us to ask ourselves the following questions every time we are considering downloading an application:
• What is the name of the developer? «The name usually says everything. Why would WhatsApp have developed an application by someone who is not ‘WhatsApp LLC’?
• Do reviews and figures seem suspicious? «Always check the reviews. 5 star reviews and 1 star reviews. In general, the more reviews, the more legitimate the application is. If there are hundreds of reviews, you know that the application has exceeded the test of time. If there are only a few and shine intensely, it is very likely that the false reviews were written by the criminal developer ».
• How many downloads do you have? «Compare the amount of downloads of applications that seem comparable. Fraudulous or malignant applications usually have little compared to legitimate ».
• Is your description suspected? «Some malignant applications require a rating of five Star to activate or promise to triple the performance of the battery, which is a warning signal itself. Other times they offer to participate in competitions or promise gifts ».
Keep the permissions at a distance
If we unfortunately install one of these apps, there are signs that they use the aforementioned permits illegally. The most obvious thing is that the smartphone works slower slower than normal for no clear reason, that tries to connect to sites that we have not asked or show too much of emerging windows (the so-called ‘pop-ups’) with advertisements. In these cases it is flawless to use some Antivirus To detect and suppress ‘malware’.
However, it is best to encourage cyber criminals to withdraw permits. «Give permission to their applications only what they need to access their device to offer the functionality that their developers explained. For example, it is obvious that their meteorological application or navigation application must have access to their location to function properly. However, there is no reason to need access to your camera or contacts, “says Carpio.
To suppress permissions on an Android device, we must tackle ‘configuration’> ” applications’, where we will click on the relevant app and continue in ‘permits’. A list appears from which each option is possible or not.
We also have access to the menu ‘permits’ from each application by playing and keeping your icon on the telephone screen, Carpio explains: «Touch the icon of ‘information’ in the right -hand corner of the window that resembles the Application information menu and press ‘permits’. The ‘Eliminating permits’ function is recommended if we have not used an app over the past three months ».
On the contrary, if we have an iPhone, opening the application of ‘adjustments’ and by clicking on ‘Privacy and Security’ we will find sections with all available permits. By clicking on each, we get a list of the applications they use, they can mark or disable.
