Smartphone security app
Recently, we introduced you to Lookout, a smartphone app that keeps smartphones private and secure.
The company studies security and privacy, recently putting out an infographic that revealed that 42% of smartphone users do not agree or disagree that mobile apps protect the privacy of their information and 97% say privacy is a top concern along with their being aware of what types of information is collected and their control over which parts of that information are public versus private. It was also revealed that in the contradiction alluded to above, 99% of smartphone users say privacy is important, but only 52% have actually read the privacy policy of a mobile application.
What’s a phishing attack?
As smartphone use skyrockets at a rapid rate, cybercriminals are learning how to steal your identity and attack your contacts on smartphones in ways they’ve done via traditional computers for years. We find people to be less careful with smartphones than computers as the idea of phone calls being safe is deeply ingrained in our culture and so many have yet to wrap their mind around the fact that they’re carrying around a tiny computer and that clicking the wrong link makes you extremely vulnerable.
According to Lookout, “All the recent data breaches mean that phishing attacks could increase too. In the last 6 months alone there were more than one hundred thousand phishing attacks targeting frequently visited social networking sites like Facebook, banking sites, government agencies and donation websites. Large scale data breaches from companies like online gaming to hotels and even major financial institutions have resulted in the anticipation of even more phishing attacks to come. And the newest target is the PC in your pocket – your very own smartphone. With the small form factor of mobile devices, studies show that users are three times more likely to click on a malicious link from their smartphone, compared to their PC.”
Lookout created the infographic below (click to enlarge) to make the world of phishing easy to understand for anyone, even the less tech savvy among us:
