Why a smartphone is a black hole for your personal data

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

With the help of the gadget, you can find out what programs you are watching, where you are resting and what you are talking about.

In May 2018, Google announced a lot of cool features in the new Android P operating system. Most of them are based on artificial intelligence, which in some 10 years will control a good half of our lives. However, programs always have vulnerabilities due to which a person can suffer. Already, hackers or special services can get full access to your personal life using a smartphone.

1. Geolocation

This feature is found in all modern phones. It helps navigate maps and track the route while jogging. Law enforcement agencies can calculate the location of a criminal using GPS. And apps like Foursquare will remember the shops and cafes you've visited.

If you want to hide your location from prying eyes by turning off GPS, I have to disappoint you. You can also track your smartphone using other sensors, including an accelerometer, barometer, and magnetometer.

It may seem to you that the leakage of such information does not threaten anything. But criminals think differently. This data will help them build your profile, for example, for a phishing attack.

Location photos provide clues to attackers of where you were and with whom. Facebook and other social networks allow you to share the places you have visited. And malware can trick your friend's computer into sending this information to other people.

Michael Cobb is an IT security specialist and co-author of IIS Security. Professional's Handbook"

2. Malicious applications

You can install hundreds of different applications on your phone that will greatly expand its functionality. However, some of the programs may collect more information about you than they should.

The worst thing is that a person himself provides access to his data and does not even ask the question: "Why does this game need a camera and my contacts?" As in all other cases, there will be one piece of advice:

Pay attention to what data the application is requesting access to.

One could also suggest using programs only from official stores. But here, too, one must be vigilant. For example, in 2017, digital security experts from RiskIQ found 333 malicious applications from the Back to School category in the Google Play Store.

3. Wi-Fi Tracking

No matter how well the mobile Internet works, sometimes you still have to use public Wi-Fi hotspots. We gladly accept all the conditions for connecting to the Internet, just to be always online. Moreover, you don't have to pay for it. And the owners of Wi-Fi points take advantage of this.

A scandal erupted around the American chain of clothing stores Nordstrom in 2013. It turned out that the owners were using Euclid Analytics to spy on Wi-Fi-connected shoppers. With it, you can track any movement inside the building. Later, Nordstrom had to stop using this service.

This practice is common not only in the United States, but also in Europe and Russia. For example, Watcom Group has launched its own shopper tracking in Moscow shopping centers. Of course, company leaders argue that data is only needed for the marketing department. Mark Zuckerberg thought the same way until the accounts of millions of Facebook users fell into the wrong hands. No one is immune from leakage.

4. Surveillance through the camera

Any camera built into a phone or laptop can be used for surveillance. It is enough to install special software. This can be done in two ways: by gaining physical access to the device or remotely. The latter option is used by intelligence agencies and national security agencies.

To avoid outside surveillance, "The Art of Invisibility" author and former hacker Kevin Mitnick recommends updating regularly to the latest operating system. Also, don't forget about a strong password.

5. Receiving data through a microphone

When it comes to surveillance, many say: "Who needs me, I have no secrets." And this statement is fundamentally wrong. For example, Alphonso monitors what programs are watched by smartphone users, and then sends this data to the marketing departments of television corporations. Feeling like a guinea pig now?

6. Lack of security patches

At this point, iOS users can breathe out. Apple has no difficulty in supporting its devices, which is not the case with Android smartphones.

Many manufacturers do not care about user safety and believe that it is better to release a new device than to patch holes in the old one.

If you have received at least one security patch for the entire time of using Honor 5X, consider yourself lucky. Adrian Ludwig and Mel Miller of the Google Security Team said that more than half of the devices in use at the end of 2016 did not receive security patches in 2017.

7. Backdoors

Remember the scandal that erupted between Apple and the FBI when the latter demanded help in hacking the iPhone of one of the terrorists. The guys from Cupertino said they couldn't do anything because the programmers didn't leave the backdoor in the system.

Now imagine that the government, intelligence agencies, or anyone else can easily access all of your data by diving into the back door of the OS.

In 2018, the directors of six US agencies, including the FBI and NSA, called for an end to the purchase of smartphones from ZTE and Huawei. They believe that the Chinese government has obliged manufacturers to build a backdoor into device firmware. Whether this is true is unknown, but there is something to think about.

This is how a smartphone, our first assistant in business, can turn into a traitor who will tell everything.

With the development of artificial intelligence, device security will increase. For example, the operating system will be able to track threats on its own and adapt to ever-changing hacking tools on the fly. But if hackers can still take control of your smartphone, the consequences will be much worse than now. Imagine what a pocket AI is capable of working against you.