It’s no hidden fact that with the amount of personal data that our smartphones today hold, privacy and identity protection is a huge concern. There have been ways around to “lock” your device for a very long time - long before iPhone and Android ever existed - but those phones didn’t really contain as much sensitive personal information as the former, not to mention that smartphones truly became popular and mainstream after these two contenders claimed the market. Hence, privacy concerns are much large scale now.
It's never great to start off the beginning of a new year shrouded in controversy and having to deal with a public relations nightmare, but that's exactly the position which Snapchat finds itself in. The company behind the photo messaging app has confirmed that the app’s user database has indeed been comprised. The news itself is quite daunting, but the situation is further compounded by the fact that the details of more than 4.6 million accounts have been posted online by those who compromised the company's infrastructure.
Samsung may have emerged as a mobile superpower in the consumer industry, but has very much struggled to corner the enterprise market. Businesses used to iPhone or BlackBerry are not switching to Samsung, and much of the reason for this can be attributed to security issues. The South Korean company has tried to put forward its case for a chunk of the enterprise pie by introducing its KNOX security platform, which is supposed to bolster Android and provide a more robust and secure environment for those in requirement of it, but unfortunately, as spotted by one security expert, it's massively flawed and leaves the famous Galaxy S4 strictly at risk.
The modern day Internet world faces its biggest challenge right now, and users are affected with it - the data security nightmare. Every now and then, successful hackers manage to break through the security measures of a renowned database, exposing along the way the online identities of hundreds of thousands of users of these services. While the targeted companies manage to recover from these attacks over the course of time, users aren’t always so lucky, where most of them are often left wondering whether their critical info was a part of the leak or not. This is where Australian software architect Troy Hunt’s new project comes in.
It generally goes without saying that if you are using any type of medium to connect to an unknown network or public Wi-Fi then the greatest of care should be taken at all times. Not only are these types of networks extremely insecure because they’re available to the masses at popular points-of-interest, but they can also be a breeding ground for countless unseen and unnamed threats lurking in the digital darkness. A recent investigation from Skycure has shown that insecure public networks can also provide stealth access to our iOS apps to potential attackers using HTTP request hijacking methods.
Amsterdam's Hack in the Box security conference regularly offers us a fascinating insight into what can ensue when modern tech is pushed to the very limit, and today, seasoned security professional Hugo Teso has certainly done that. Drawing upon twelve years as an airline pilot before his transition to the bustling world of tech security, Teso demonstrated just how easy it could be to essentially take control of a plane remotely using little more than an Android smartphone. While infinitely cool, it's also worrying how unsecure some airline software systems currently are, and although Teso only used a virtual Boeing jet to demonstrate his achievements (hijacking planes is, after all, illegal), it's a pretty incredible bit of ingenuity.
Regardless of what side of the fence you happen to sit on when it comes down to the old and rather tiresome Android vs. iOS debate, the fact remains that each of the mobile operating systems has definite benefits over the other. The flip side is also true that each of the firmware comes with a definitive set of issues that can, on occasions, deter users from purchasing a device that runs them. One of the oldest myths that still seems to get airtime is that iOS is security tight, but we have seen that disproven on multiple occasions. However, even though Apple still has a little work to do with iOS, the latest reports suggest that Android users are definitely at risk.
If you own an iPhone or an Android device, then the chances are high that you’re familiar with the extremely popular cross-platform messaging app, WhatsApp. The app has become insanely popular over the last couple of years due to the fact that it is a cross-platform messaging service that not only allows users to send text-based messages, but can also include photographs, videos and audio attachments that are then sent across the network to any device that has the app installed. Being able to offer a true cross-platform service that allows all different types of media to be sent and received without charge is definitely key to the success of the app.
The iPhone has been around since 2007 and is about to be presented to the world in its sixth-generation form in the next month or so. In five years that has followed the iPhone’s introduction to the world, there has been a huge rise in mobile devices and their everyday use in our day-to-day lives, with a number of important points being raised about mobile technology along the way. As you would imagine, one of those important points that gets raised time and time again is just how secure mobile devices and their respective operating systems are.
Of all the modern smartphone operating systems, Android is particularly known for being more heavily targeted by malware. It’s not a surprise, really, considering it’s a more open platform where malicious apps can make their way to your smartphone not just by installing things from unofficial sources, but also from the Google Play Store*.
